Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Have you ever noticed your own humanity? Today, I've really seen it. It is terrifying but is full of grace and beauty. I'm going to take a walk soon.This is not your ordinary walk; it will be done with intention. I will be totally conscious of the soul I posses and nourish it. I've spent too much time wanting to kill it. Sometimes, it all boils down to the belief that God knows the truth. We can either take it in like a cool glass of water, or push it away until we are literally sick. I've done both; and I know to feel that refreshing water go into my system (whatever truths it delivers) will sustain me.
I know a while back, I was sure that God was a woman. But, I am deeply in love with this God I know who is an energy - the life force. Its presence is my lullaby.
With all the power of red leggings,
Elizabeth
This Sunday afternoon is the CROP walk, a fundraising campaign to end world hunger through Church World Service I've been on many of these walks over the years, especially if you count the ones where I was dragged along in a little red wagon by my parents. It's not even a question for me every year. I'm going. But here's a little something for those of you who may not get the why's and the wherefor's of the thing. It's a true story I recently found in a publication put out by CWS. Although it's a story about water, not food, it still puts a whole new perspective on the mantra, "We Walk Because They Walk."Water: The Rest of the story...
Our jeep came to an abrupt halt at the end of the dusty road leading to the entrance of the small Malawi village of Maziyaya. We got out, made our way throught he brush and then a cornfield, until we came to a clearing. There stood the new well. The entire "Well Committee" had assembled there to greet us. Ms. Andrea, the president of the group thanked the members of our visiting Church World Service staff group for, as she put it, CWS's kind gift of clean, accessible water.
Because I like to help people here in the United States identify with the long distances that women and children in the developing world have to walk each day to get water, I asked the inevitable question: "How far did you have to walk to get water before the well was installed?"
We had to walk to the river," she answered. "It's about 1 1/4 kilometers from here."
Thinking of the 5 km and 10 km distances that most participants hike in the United States in our annumal CROP Hunger Walks, I said quietly to a colleague standing next to me: "Hmmm.. that's not too bad."
Fate being cruel, my comment — which had not been intended for the women — was heard by the interpreter and, with a lack of any malice, translated to the members of the well committee.
The president of the group, Ms. Andrea, stepped forward and spoke directly to me.
"You're right; it's not that bad &emdash; at least not for grown women. We're used to it. But it's very hard for the little ones."
I felt my face flush. Of course I knew that. I'd worked for 10 years in very poor countries in Latin America. How, ever, had I forgotten how arduous was the daily hauling of water? I began to wish I'd kept my mouth shut.
Ms. Andrea continued: "You see, water's very heavy."
I swallowed hard. I knew that, too; but she was correct in assuming that most Americans, who don't have to haul water every day, may not. There is probably nothing that we consume on a daily basis, besides air, that we take more for granted than the easy availability of clean water. The age-old dictum sounded in my head: "A pint's a pound the world around." I was embarrassed.
"Not to mention the fact," she went on, "that a long of our children are sick."
I'd seen that immediately upon our arrival in the village. It is estimated that 60% of rural families in the developing world still do not have access to safe drinking water. For children who are malnourished, waterborne diseases can bring on diarrheal infections that dehydrate, lowering the body's electorlytes, and can spell death in as few as 48 hours. My discomfort was growing. I was mortified and wanted to go and hide.
"Not to mention the fact that the river is downhill from here and the children had to carry the water back up the hill," she added.
Humiliation is too euphemistic a word to describe what I was feeling. Yet it's important to state that she was saying these things in no way to "put me down" but out of a sincere desire to help me understand just how precious this new well was to them. Still, I was squirming.
"Not to mention the fact," she again went on, "that the river water is polluted with schistosomiasis, guinea worm, and other waterborne bacteria, so that once we'd hauled it back here to the village, we had to do more walking to find firewood in order to boil the water to make it safe to drink."
I wondered: How long would this verbal, even if unintended, flogging go on? I wanted to find a hole and crawl into it when, mercifully, Ms. Andrea put an end to my misery.
"Not to mention the fact," she concluded, "that getting water from the river was dangerous for the children."
"Dangerous? How so?" I asked, sensing a slight opening, the possibility of a slight reprieve, an opportunity to justify myself if, perchance, she might have gone too far out on a limb by using hyperbole with that adjective.
Speaking through the interpreter she explained, again matter-of-factly, "The river is crocodile infested."
It was the coup de grâce.
Today, even after 10 years have passed, when I turn on the water in my kitchen sink it's hard not to think of the village of Maziyaya, and my embarrassing faux pas. Far outweighing my short-lived discomfort of then, however, is the wonderful remembrance today of what a blessing clean drinking water is for one small village, far away, in the heart of Africa.
Joe Moran, Regional Director of Church World Service in the Carolinas, has worked in international development for 36 years.
I think sometimes we all lose site of what being a parent is all about. Sometimes when life moves fast we all too often expect our children to keep up with us, not remembering that they are small and just need to learn or want to learn about life. I myself have found it hard to take my time when I "need" to be someplace and I often get frustrated with my children because they just don't seem to think that the "need" to be some place is really all that important...they are right! I am learning that I must slow down to look at the flower and try to see life from the eyes of my children...with that perspective life is incredible! I found this on a website and I thought it was a great reminder...slow down, love life and cherish every moment with your children before you know it they will be doing it with children of their own!
Love to all
Jenn
10 Child Commandments To Parents
1. My hands are small; please don't expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.
2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely. Don't restrict me unnecessarily.
3. Housework will always be there. I'm only little for a short time, please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world and do so willingly.
4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs. Don't nag me all day long. (You wouldn't want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness. Treat me as you would like to be treated.
5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner.
6. I need your encouragement to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember, you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.
7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I'll be prepared to make the kinds of decisions that life requires of me.
8. Please don't do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn't quite measure up to your expectations. I know it's hard, but please don't try to compare me to my brother or sister.
9. Please don't be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it's a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.
10. Please take me to Sunday School and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.
We began to feel more distinctly how the ghetto was being emptied. We realized our turn would be coming soon. All the lovely things we did in the lovely Terezin. It was done all under pressure, to retain our own dignity. That's what they wanted to take away from us, our dignity. That we had to fight for. And in that respect, we succeeded.Not that we all of a sudden felt superior, but we insisted on being ourselves, no matter how hard it was, how hard the circumstances were. Each block elder had to supply the Jewish administration every morning with a number of people they selected for deportation. A miserable job, but it had to be done—there was no way out, we just accepted it, because we were completely powerless in this situation.
But we continued conducting our services. The services were held during the summer in the open, in the courtyard. Masses of people came there every Friday night, and we sang with a choir and the real music they remembered from their homes, whether Berlin or Vienna. Basically the same melodies so they could join, and they're praying. If anybody had reason to pray, it was us.
In the wintertime, because we couldn't do it outside, we went to the attic, a very, very small area, with all these beams going every which way. We squeezed in there and I haven't prayed like this in the United States, with that intensity, not one single time. Not that I want to wish for having to pray this way. And so we did this, and this was very successful. It gave people hope and faith in the midst of all things that were happening.
Kurt M.
Germany
I suppose that businesses are concerned about possible skater-patron collisions, but I also suspect that there's also a degree of irrational fear involved. Skaters tend to travel in groups, and any time there are groups of young people, "old" people get scared. (I know 20-somethings who get nervous at the sight of a group of teens hanging out together, to in this case "old" really is very relative!) Irrational or not, it's bad for business to scare off the "old" people--cause the "old" people have money!
