this is eurasia.

we wanted to 'go out with a bang' for our final project with the eurasia communications team.
so here it is: our stop-motion project to show not only the diversity of eurasia but also the ways in which youth from every field are participating in the Kingdom.



it was true collaboration.
quite the labor of love. but so worth it in the end.

still wanting to live as an ordinary radical.

i just had a great reminder about the kind of person i want/hope to be.
yes, the person i hope to become. but also the person i hope to be today, even now. through sharing life with other people. no solo trek here.

loma invited shane claiborne to share (preach? speak? story-tell?) about some of his convictions and practices with the campus yesterday, and the audio file from that chapel is already posted online. some eunc (european nazarene college -- where i presently live) friends and i gathered just now to listen to it together. good, good stuff. always more to dialogue about. and live-out. so let me know if you were at that chapel (or the monday evening q&a!!), if you listen to the file linked below, if you're still wrestling/processing/continually trying to apply convictions and practices that were provoked/inspired by reading the irresistible revolution: living as an ordinary radical, or if you're just wondering, 'what the heck is this all about?'

let's share.
together.

to listen to the chapel audio file, go here: http://www.pointloma.edu/CampusLife/Chapel.htm

Instructions: Find the chapel date you would like to hear [November 9th, 2009 - Shane Claiborne] and simply click the title to start the player. To download a copy of the mp3, click the download button next to the chapel title or double-click the title and select "Save File".

To filter the list, select the year and semester you would like to view. To filter by a particular speaker, type that speaker's name in the box.

a nun's life

the lastest intriguing blog that i stumbled upon:

http://anunslife.org/

i like what i'm reading. thanks sisters!

do not let your love be a pretense.

this says everything. i have no words to add. but an amen.
and a so be it.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans:
(Romans 12:9-16)

Do not let your love be a pretense, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as sisters and brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them; and you should make hospitality your special care.

Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow. Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor. Do not allow yourself to become self-satisfied.

all saints day.

remembering those who have gone before.
a great cloud of witnesses.

Grant us during our pilgrimage to abide in their fellowship,
and to become partakers of their joy.

taizé day in stuggart.

on 10 october, we took the baden-württemberg regional ticket (up to five travelers covered for € 28!) up to stuttgart for:

Prayer and meeting in Stuttgart:
The communion of the Church: going towards one another

we joined our voices with fellow brothers and sisters who had also made the pilgrimage for this gathering. the article linked above highlights all of the youth that came, but i really saw all ages present. making our song one. a beautiful picture of the Church in deutschland.

this prayer (from the most recent taizé newsletter) is being echoed by brothers and sisters on all continents. may we join too. in both word and deed:

Christ Jesus, seeking to follow you, we understand that you call us to forgive, again and again. And faithfulness to your Gospel can kindle in us such a passion for forgiveness.

la posada.

While skyping it up with my sister last night, she reminded me of the beauty of La Posada ('The Inn'). Please read this short article.

As we begin to look towards the approaching Christian New Year, which begins with the season of Advent, may we also remember this annual gathering of brothers and sisters. May we too be sowers of peace... even, or maybe especially, in the face of messages that don't speak of love. And may we love there too... where it is perhaps most difficult to love.

amen and amen.

no strangers anymore.

while updating my couchsurfing [cs] profile this week (elle & i are trying to score a place to stay in prague in two weeks time!), i decided to fill in the cs field that asked:
'personal philosophy: what is your personal philosophy? why do you live your life? feelings? thoughts?'

whew. i could write a novel. we all could. but this patty griffin lyric came to mind instead. it says so much. in so few words.

...and we'll grow kindness in our hearts
for all of the strangers among us
'till there are no strangers anymore...

-- Patty Griffin
(song: 'No Bad News' from the album 'Children Running Through')


so for now. that is my philosophy.
on life.
on community and humanity.
on sharing and travel.
on hospitality and embodying a spirit of 'welcome'.
on listening and learning from one another.
on movement and growth.
on love in action.
and on and on...

known by her name.

i love taizé. love, love. two different visits, in opposite seasons -- summer and winter -- have shaped me. tremendously. in following the updates from taizé sites around the world, i came across this beautiful portrait of community. read it. soak it in. such truth about humanity! and sharing life! may we too live in such a way... wherever home may be.

One of the brothers living in Bangladesh writes:

"When we as brothers welcome others, we welcome a great diversity of people. Little by little, we have learned to understand that we are not welcoming "the poor", "the disabled", or "a beggar"; we are welcoming persons. We are not welcoming "a station boy", but someone, and he is happy when we call him by his name. A woman who comes often, who can hardly walk, and who begs, is not "a beggar". She is "Mrs so and so". She is happy when she is known by her name.

And when we eat together - it is often at the midday meal that we welcome - each person introduces himself or herself. Sometimes there are thirty of forty of us, and we pass the plates, and one or two decide how much to put on the plates. And when everyone has their plate in front of them, sitting on the floor (we eat with our fingers), those who do not belong to the fraternity or to the group of young adults who live with us, introduce themselves, and give their names. Little by little we have discovered that these moments when each person says their name are moments of joy, moments that are quite different from times when we do something for others, or when we speak. It is someone who says, "I am so and so", and we are sitting here together."

we are sitting here together.
thanks be to G-d.
joy indeed!

the whites of their eyes.

there's this revolutionary war quote about 'not shooting until you can see the whites of their eyes.' know the one i'm talking about? well i recently heard a much better take on that idea. except i don't know the exact phrasing, and i've been waiting to write some sort of post on here about it, and i don't want to botch it up. but here it goes anyway.

while visiting san diego last week, my dear friend and one of my mentors from loma, syl, shared this quote with me. we had a heart-to-heart chat, an absolutely life-giving conversation, over con pane sandwiches. --> which i boldly stand by the claim that thier veggie cobb is my favorite sandwich (specifically in the category of cold eats) in the entire world [avocados, roasted roma tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, bean sprouts, red onions, romaine lettuce, and yummy spread on either rosemary or whole wheat bread]. um, yum. it's to die for. i'm not exaggerating when i say it's my favorite cold sandwich in the whole wide world. if you're ever in san diego, pleeease try it.

but, back to the quote. syl told me something she had recently heard from one of her friends, and it has continued to resonate with me... i just don't remember how to phrase it properly and accurately. the gist of it is this:

we need people in our lives both who know us and who can see the whites of our eyes.

amen and amen. ...except that it was phrased much more eloquently than that. i will try to update this once i have the whole thought spelled out a little more richer. the principle of the idea is still there though.

as i travel through different states, visiting friends and family (and friends who really should just be called 'family'), i am reminded of how true this concept really is... i am very thankful for my life in the büs, but living so far from all of the people that i love can take its toll. skype is a wonderful invention, but i don't think we can really see the whites of one another's eyes through technology. we need people whom we are actively journeying with who will know when we are hurting because they can see it in our eyes. in person. that has largely been the gift of my six-week break in the states: being with people who know me, who get me, who can see where i am at, and how i am really doing, based on the whites of my eyes.

is this echoing with anyone else? because i think it largely defines true community and what the church is to be. to and with one another. sharing life.

so as i have been with family and friends in colorado, california, idaho, minneapolis, and soon on to wisconsin, all i have is gratitude. your hospitality, authenticity, and your willingness to both open your homes and your lives speaks of real sharing and real love. it is a gift, a true gift, to be able to really see the whites of your eyes. thank you for seeing mine as well.

-------------
an amendment to this post:

my aforementioned friend and mentor, sylvia cortez, had this fuller and richer statement to add when i asked her to remind me how this idea was spelled out...

"We all need people in our lives that we can go to when we are really struggling, when we need to process, or when we are not doing well. These people need to be friends whom we can trust, who won't be judgmental, or advice givers necessarily, but who will simply listen to us and who know us in deep ways. Given the transitory nature in most people these days, many of us have these kinds of friendships with people who live in different parts of the country or world even...not necessarily in our own community. However, it's essential that we have a person or two within our community -- we need to be in relationship with people whom we actually see on a regular basis -- people who can see the whites of our eyes and because they know us well, are able to know, before we even tell them, that something is going on, that we need to talk, or that we need their presence."

amen and amen. so be it. that is my desire for life... that wherever i may be, there too will be such friendships.

that is good stuff syl. thank you for your words, and thank you for your presence in my life. thank you that even though we live on different continents, when we are back together, it is so rich....

...there is a real sharing.
and seeing.
and being.

food for thought. pun intended.

today i woke up at 6:30am with no alarm. but this is actually an improvement from waking up at 4:30am yesterday and 5:00am the day before. oh the joys of jet-lag. actually, i kinda' like jet lag at this time of day when i feel super energized in the wee morning hours; my dad is already off to work, but the rest of the house is still asleep...

once i'm awake, it's hard for me to go back to sleep, so yesterday i enjoyed a colorado sunrise with my favorite morning treat: vanilla soy milk and 'special k fruit & yogurt'. the simple pleasures of life. today i warmed up (colorado has been rainy and cold so far -- not the july i was expecting after leaving the same rain and cold in the büs) to green tea and one of my favorite reads from last summer: 'take this bread' by sara miles. ahhh, so good. after i read a chapter or even just a page or paragraph or single sentence, i have to pause and reflect. her story woven into the greater story of sacrament and action gets me excited about life. about calling. about people. about food. about bodies. about sharing. about learning. about faith.

there are too many excerpts i would choose to include in this post, but here's one to savor for now, from the prologue (xv-xvi):

"...at the heart of Christianity is a power that continues to speak to and transform us. As I found to my surprise and alarm, it could speak even to me: not in the sappy, Jesus-and-cookies tone of mild-mannered liberal Christianity, or the blustering, blaming hellfire of the religious right. What I heard, and continue to hear, is a voice that can crack religious and political convictions open, that advocates for the least qualified, least official, least likely, that upsets established order and makes a joke of certainty. It proclaims against reason that the hungry will be fed, that those cast down will be raised up, and that all things, including my own failures, are being made new. It offers food without exception to the worthy and unworthy, the screwed-up and pious, and then commands everyone to do the same. It doesn't promise to solve or erase suffering but to transform it, pledging that by loving one another, even through pain, we will find more life. And it insists that by opening ourselves to strangers, the despised or frightening or unintelligible other, we will see more and more of the holy, since, without exception, all people are one body: God's.

This theology isn't mine alone. It comes from conversation with other believers, tradition, and Scripture; books and prayer and liturgy. It comes, even more, from my years outside church: from unbelieving and unbelievers, from doubt, from questions that still echo unanswered for me. Faith, for me, isn't an argument, a catechism, a philosophical "proof." It is instead a lens, a way of experiencing life, and a willingness to act."

whew. such good stuff. i affirm so much of this. i want to eat it up. and i presently am. miles' book centers on Eucharist: on food as gift. thanksgiving. of broken bread and poured wine. after walking into a church and joining in communion, miles' own life became embedded in the breaking of bread as well as the sharing of bread with her neighbor. in her mind and experience, the elements were inextricably linked to feeding people. She writes,

"The mysterious sacrament turned out to be not a symbolic wafer at all but actual food--indeed, the bread of life. In that shocking moment of communion, filled with a deep desire to reach for and become a part of a body, I realized that what I'd been doing with my life all along was what I was meant to do: feed people," (prologue, xi).

along the same thought-track, i've been researching everything i can about the 1987 danish film babettes gæstebud (known as babette's feast to english speakers). while enjoying npr in the car on tuesday, i caught a story titled food on film: the famished and the feasts. npr describes this film by saying,

"It's a French cook's extravagant "thank you" to a tiny church congregation that has sheltered her as a refugee in frigid Denmark for years. The problem is, the elderly congregation believes in self-denial — believes that pleasure must be reserved for the hereafter. So while they agree to eat the meal so as not to hurt Babette's feelings, they vow to each other that they will not enjoy the meal, or even talk about it.

This is much to the astonishment of a visitor, who can't believe what he's tasting — genuine turtle soup, great wine, and all around him, the congregation is silent. From the embarrassment in their expressions it's clear the others, despite their best efforts, are enjoying the meal, but no one in the congregation will admit it...."

... it's "all tied up in the spiritual: food as a gift, specifically Eucharistic in nature, for a religious community that has denied itself pleasure for decades.

And it is transformative: old loves are rekindled, long-simmering feuds are forgotten, redemption has a seat at the table."

npr says 'fabulous' and i agree. so has anyone seen babette's feast? tell me if you have. i can't wait to watch it soon and to keep thinking about food and the sharing of it as well as the savoring of it... with it all wrapped up in gift, gift, gift.

we want you!

Look how cool our Eurasia Communications team is... don't you want to join the fun? We need more volunteers and soon. Steve is done, so we actually need more males at this point. I mean I love Amy and Simone with all my heart, but we could do with some added testosterone in the office. You feel me on that one?

Here's our new flier to recruit more volunteers. If you click it, it will get bigger and you can even distribute it around. Please do actually! Thanks, thanks. Seriously let me know if you, or someone you know, might be even slightly interested... Switzerland is calling your name. I can hear the cow bells ringing now.

you've got to be kidding me.

My dear friend and brotha-from-anotha-motha', whom I affectionately refer to as Hencky-Pencky, has a current facebook status that reads, "Andrew Henck: apparently is the newest heretic in town."

and then he has this link in his status:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=1438&more=1&c=1

oh.my.word.

Who runs this blog? I'm stunned and amazed. Who seriously spends their time and energy with this? Everything they bemoan has largely informed who I am... all of the authors and the practices -- especially brother Roger and Taize. whew. big frustrated sigh. Why do we so quickly point fingers within the Body of Christ and make accusations and live in fear when perfect love drives out and has already driven out fear...?

This article just makes me sad. They're missing the point of all of these authors and the friends mentioned in it who have been shaped by these authors.

...love.

And so too I'm challenged to love even (and especially) those I disagree with here... but I gotta' say I'm still frustrated about it.... I mean come on.

all around us

there is so much i want to share on here. so much to say. and so much to catch up on. but for now, this will have to suffice:

more and more, i am seeing the truth that there are saints all around us... everywhere you go. living in a million and one different contexts. but living such real and full and bold lives. i was able to see and simply be with such people this past week.

there's the two sisters in lisbon, portugal, age 50 and 60, who decided last fall that they wanted to open their home up to the kids in their neighborhood... teaching them in creative ways and loving on them by simply sharing life. these kids probably wouldn't be inclined to step into a church building, but they're experiencing community through the intentionality of these two sisters.

then there's the volunteers i met in madrid, spain; one from tijuana, mexico (we know the same people from there!) and one from nicaragua. both women, in their mid-20's, moved to madrid for a two-year commitment to build relationships in a totally new place by partnering with a local church and various community groups in the city. yes, they both were spanish speakers, but they entered a totally new cultural context in spain and have learned and loved with such openness and humility and grace. they both just love people. period. in word and in deed. they refer to their work as, "the gospel of friendship." amen and amen.

and then there's my new family member; my sister francine. francine opened up her home to my friend jenna and i while we spent time in montpellier, france. what rich hospitality. it's difficult to formulate into words how much her life and her creativity sparked something in me. francine shows me what i want 60 to look like: sanding a table and then repainting it eggplant purple, picking up fresh bread from the nearby bakery for guests, an ever-eagerness to hear someone's story, long walks in the cool of evening, allowing myself the grace to still take risks... francine is planning a solo backpacking trip in the states for the late summer - i reeeeeeally hope we get to see each other in colorado! francine loves. that was a complete thought there. she loves. loves being alive. loves tapping into creative energy through her artwork. loves her church. loves sharing her story. loves listening to other people's stories. loves helping. loves sharing. loves the creator, the sustainer, the giver of all life.

i realize now that the three examples that came spilling out were all from women; of course i don't espouse that one gender has more to offer the church than the other, but i guess for me, i seem to connect most quickly with women who are living lives of risk and purpose and even adventure in their local context. i love seeing that age is no issue for them; there's no thought of, 'oh, i'm too young to be doing this,' or 'i'm too old to be doing this.'

they just live life. and love life. and love people. deeply and truly and beautifully. if you look, really look, the saints are all around us.

walking the streets

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems.

My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress.

But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.

-- Henri Nouwen
(taken from Missional Church Network)

women: educated but still no job?

Here's a NYTimes article that describes the latest statistics of women in leadership in various countries. The US is definitely lagging behind most of Europe as well as behind other notable nations throughout the world. Get with the program, yo! The article states that women are just as educated as men, but there is not an equal share of leadership that would reflect this shared level of education. It does mention that Norway is one of the leaders when it comes to equality of the sexes - what up home roots. Here are two noteworthy quotes from the article:

“The world’s women are nearly as educated and as healthy as men, but are nowhere to be found in terms of decision-making,” said Saadia Zahidi of the World Economic Forum.

&:

“A nation’s competitiveness depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilizes its female talent. To maximize its competitiveness and development potential, each country should strive for gender equality.”

I don't know if competitiveness should be our final goal, but I guess that's capitalism for you. Nonetheless, the quote still raises a good point - we must ask, first of all, whether we are offering true and equal education for women (in many world areas, education is not even an option for women), and second of all, whether we are then utilizing this female talent. Even in the US, we still have a long ways to go with this second one.

Specifically looking at the Church, how many women are currently being educated and supposedly "prepared" for a vocation that would serve the Church (say as a Pastor), and yet we find virtually no women in positions of leadership in the Church? Are we utilizing our female talent? I can't say with confidence that we are. Because in looking at the Church, and looking at very the education that prepares one for life and service to the Church, I think we're failing in both arenas: more often then not, girls and young women don't even grow up with the slightest notion that they too could serve the Church in leadership (we're talking more than just organizing the craft fairs and bake sales); we don't make space for exploration, where young girls could even dream about the possibility of serving as a pastor someday. So for the second account, it goes without saying that we aren't utilizing our female talent; if women haven't been able to simply consider pursuing vocational ministry in their education, then how can we even utilize them, even if we have the best of intentions? This ought not be! The Church must first show, in truth, to both boys and girls, young men and young women, that BOTH genders get to dream and consider a life of 'ministry' - with equal opportunity to serve as a Pastor. Then after that, we must follow through to Educate AND Utilize; the two must go hand in hand. [But then we're left with a little bit of a chicken-egg scenario... how can we show this truth to kids and youth if we aren't educating and utilizing our female potential in the immediate sense...?]

Homes, villages, cities, and countries are often carried on the backs of women... almost always in all of the behind-the-scenes work. Gender equality means a sharing of both the 'behind the scenes' work as well as positions of leadership and influence.

You can read the rest of the article here:

WORLD

Women Gain in Education but Not Power, Study Finds

By REUTERS

Published: November 13, 2008

A study found that women still lag far behind men in top political and decision-making roles, though their access to education and health care is nearly equal.