Since I was a patojito, I like listening to something to fall asleep to, whether it's the radio (just loud enough for a constant murmur, low enough for it to be gibberish), music, or a fan.
So right now, I'm listening to Pandora and Bon Iver's For Emma comes on and, while I can't make out the lyrics, the music gives me nostalgia.
I haven't been very active on blogger lately, what with job hunting and the frustration that it brings. Recently, I had the good fortune of being able to choose between two job offers. While my decision was well thought and prayed out, I hate the feeling of taking a life-changing decision. It feels so absolute, and while I know it isn't--most likely the chord sequence just emphasizing all the "could have beens" in my head--it still is nerve wracking.
I wish I knew 100% I made the right choice.
In the end, it will have been, because there is no way to test otherwise, I suppose.
What is the what.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Carlos
An inflatable raft sits on the grass, guarded by a little boy in a faded Spider-Man shirt a couple of feet from the river. Twenty dollars and some booze, per person. Yes, even the little girl who couldn't be past six with the gel sandals will cost twenty dollars. In fact, once she's on the other side, there's no guaranteeing someone would count her as a whole human being for a while. The guard seems more nervous than some at this point. Maybe that's why he has a kid towing the raft. Maybe if he gets found out he'll lose his job. Maybe if he does, he, too, would make the journey north.
After announcing that all passengers owe him five bucks, the kid informs the group that they will have to stay down, on their hands and knees, heads in between the legs of the person in front. Pure adrenaline rushes through the passengers veins. Carlos puts his wallet in his underwear. No pickpocket is going to get his money. At least no pickpocket heading the same way as he is. With how much money he has had to dish out to shady guards and clever kids, maybe it would be better if he just helped people across instead of actually looking for a job up north.
Soon, the signal is given. The kid pulls the raft into the river, and the five passengers shakily climb in. The little girl is quiet and focused, as if she knew how serious this was. Carlos realizes he needs to pee.
--Con cuidado, con silencio, mucha suerte y que Dios les acompañe!
The guard tips his hat at them and walks off briskly. If the group gets caught within 30 miles, they'll come looking for him and he needs to be far enough away to not know what happened here tonight. Now if he could only find his bottle opener . . .
Carlos is the fourth in the boat. The person in front smells like he swam the river and back and walked around for two weeks. At the front someone is whispering, turning beads on a rosary like a mad man. The raft starts to move. Te quiero, Mexico! Someone's shaky voice.
Carlos is tense. A cramp threatens and his shoulders are sore tight. Everyone takes shallow breaths. The raft doesn't seem like it is moving. Only the kid splashing along beside, huffing and puffing, gives any sign of action.
Something's not right. Carlos feels his hands getting wet, then his knees getting cold fast. He wants to put his head up but he's scared to give away his presence.
"Hijue--" The raft capsizes amid swearing from the would-be sailors. Everyone lunges for the girl. Someone's backpack gets carried away by the current. The man swims out, but is dragged back by his friend. "My stuff man! My fake papers!"
"No, they're lost! Don't go man--"
"But I need those! I've got it all there--"
"They're gone, just let them go, there's nothing you can do. Swim, the undercurrent is strong here."
Carlos doggy paddles. It has got to be but three meters at the most, but the current pulls him sideways faster than he can go forward. He decides he better not look back at the struggling couple with the little girl.
A sharp pain shoots up from his shoe into his knee. A branch cuts right through his shoe and gashes his foot and shin. Biting hard, Carlos clenches his fists. The surge of pain passes, and he warns the others. "Cuidado, there's branches here that are sharp!"
No one responds, but he knows they heard him.
Just a few more feet. Kick, kick, the water doesn't move aside fast enough. If only someone could part his Jordan River.
Swim, swim.
Finally, Carlos claws the mud at the other side. He pulls at the grass and pulls himself up. He stops to look at his foot and wait for the others.
The others slowly make their way up, and he helps them up.
"Jesus, your foot!"
Carlos nods. He and the others help the family up. The little girl is wet all over, but she is quiet.
The kid that was pulling raft rests and looks at them with a chilling smile.
"Good luck! Don't stop now, you have to keep going!"
Somehow, the grass in Texas isn't greener.
After announcing that all passengers owe him five bucks, the kid informs the group that they will have to stay down, on their hands and knees, heads in between the legs of the person in front. Pure adrenaline rushes through the passengers veins. Carlos puts his wallet in his underwear. No pickpocket is going to get his money. At least no pickpocket heading the same way as he is. With how much money he has had to dish out to shady guards and clever kids, maybe it would be better if he just helped people across instead of actually looking for a job up north.
Soon, the signal is given. The kid pulls the raft into the river, and the five passengers shakily climb in. The little girl is quiet and focused, as if she knew how serious this was. Carlos realizes he needs to pee.
--Con cuidado, con silencio, mucha suerte y que Dios les acompañe!
The guard tips his hat at them and walks off briskly. If the group gets caught within 30 miles, they'll come looking for him and he needs to be far enough away to not know what happened here tonight. Now if he could only find his bottle opener . . .
Carlos is the fourth in the boat. The person in front smells like he swam the river and back and walked around for two weeks. At the front someone is whispering, turning beads on a rosary like a mad man. The raft starts to move. Te quiero, Mexico! Someone's shaky voice.
Carlos is tense. A cramp threatens and his shoulders are sore tight. Everyone takes shallow breaths. The raft doesn't seem like it is moving. Only the kid splashing along beside, huffing and puffing, gives any sign of action.
Something's not right. Carlos feels his hands getting wet, then his knees getting cold fast. He wants to put his head up but he's scared to give away his presence.
"Hijue--" The raft capsizes amid swearing from the would-be sailors. Everyone lunges for the girl. Someone's backpack gets carried away by the current. The man swims out, but is dragged back by his friend. "My stuff man! My fake papers!"
"No, they're lost! Don't go man--"
"But I need those! I've got it all there--"
"They're gone, just let them go, there's nothing you can do. Swim, the undercurrent is strong here."
Carlos doggy paddles. It has got to be but three meters at the most, but the current pulls him sideways faster than he can go forward. He decides he better not look back at the struggling couple with the little girl.
A sharp pain shoots up from his shoe into his knee. A branch cuts right through his shoe and gashes his foot and shin. Biting hard, Carlos clenches his fists. The surge of pain passes, and he warns the others. "Cuidado, there's branches here that are sharp!"
No one responds, but he knows they heard him.
Just a few more feet. Kick, kick, the water doesn't move aside fast enough. If only someone could part his Jordan River.
Swim, swim.
Finally, Carlos claws the mud at the other side. He pulls at the grass and pulls himself up. He stops to look at his foot and wait for the others.
The others slowly make their way up, and he helps them up.
"Jesus, your foot!"
Carlos nods. He and the others help the family up. The little girl is wet all over, but she is quiet.
The kid that was pulling raft rests and looks at them with a chilling smile.
"Good luck! Don't stop now, you have to keep going!"
Somehow, the grass in Texas isn't greener.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
I don't know what to title this post about Child Immigrants
First, watch this video.
Second, let's take a look at all the nonsense O'Reilly mentions in his . . . commentary.
We can't absorb all the world's children.
Why O'Reilly had to bring up Haiti's and Brazil's children is beyond me. The issue here isn't those children, who are not coming in droves. So, there's no need to absorb them. His verb, absorb, is weird. Why he would think that someone wants to be absorbed baffles me. No one wants to be absorbed--they want to survive. Either way, if children are in trouble, wouldn't it be a good thing to take them in and help them? Wouldn't we rather protect them here?
Every child in Sub-Saharan Africa...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
It would be cheaper to activate the National Guard
For the record, Rick Perry did activate the National Guard. O'Reilly's assessment couldn't be further from the truth. To wit, in an article published July 21 on the Texas Tribune, the cost of the 1,000 National Guard troops along with other security is estimated at $17 million a week. Yikes.
The US and Mexico closing their borders will solve the problem of the children being put in danger
No, they're running away from danger. Sending them back will actually put them in danger.
What Jorge Ramos proved by crossing the river himself was how dangerous it was crossing the river . . . not detailing that several countries have to be crossed too, the river being the last hurdle to jump. At that point, a river or a fence isn't going to discourage anyone.
The point is this. The danger the children are fleeing is so large that they would rather cross several countries, borders, gang wars and rivers and fences. The journey's danger is seemed as a risk worth taking.
Closing the border or sending troops won't stop anyone, especially because children actually seek out those in uniform once they're across.
I know I'm only hammering away at an already-dead turkey here. You can Youtube search O'Reilly and what you'll find is clueless posts backing him and hilarious satires, especially from Colbert and Jon Stewart.
What I want to get at is the fact that someone kept silent all this hullabaloo when it first started. The GOP only started to point fingers when there were already over 50,000 children across the border. Deporting children is not only immoral, but a direct violation of articles 1, 2, 3, 9, 13, 14, 25 and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Second, let's take a look at all the nonsense O'Reilly mentions in his . . . commentary.
We can't absorb all the world's children.
Why O'Reilly had to bring up Haiti's and Brazil's children is beyond me. The issue here isn't those children, who are not coming in droves. So, there's no need to absorb them. His verb, absorb, is weird. Why he would think that someone wants to be absorbed baffles me. No one wants to be absorbed--they want to survive. Either way, if children are in trouble, wouldn't it be a good thing to take them in and help them? Wouldn't we rather protect them here?
Every child in Sub-Saharan Africa...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
It would be cheaper to activate the National Guard
For the record, Rick Perry did activate the National Guard. O'Reilly's assessment couldn't be further from the truth. To wit, in an article published July 21 on the Texas Tribune, the cost of the 1,000 National Guard troops along with other security is estimated at $17 million a week. Yikes.
The US and Mexico closing their borders will solve the problem of the children being put in danger
No, they're running away from danger. Sending them back will actually put them in danger.
What Jorge Ramos proved by crossing the river himself was how dangerous it was crossing the river . . . not detailing that several countries have to be crossed too, the river being the last hurdle to jump. At that point, a river or a fence isn't going to discourage anyone.
The point is this. The danger the children are fleeing is so large that they would rather cross several countries, borders, gang wars and rivers and fences. The journey's danger is seemed as a risk worth taking.
Closing the border or sending troops won't stop anyone, especially because children actually seek out those in uniform once they're across.
I know I'm only hammering away at an already-dead turkey here. You can Youtube search O'Reilly and what you'll find is clueless posts backing him and hilarious satires, especially from Colbert and Jon Stewart.
What I want to get at is the fact that someone kept silent all this hullabaloo when it first started. The GOP only started to point fingers when there were already over 50,000 children across the border. Deporting children is not only immoral, but a direct violation of articles 1, 2, 3, 9, 13, 14, 25 and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Island of Dreams, II
This was the scene I wrote for the annual theater production at Union College. The play, titled Fifty Years Later, was more of a vignette aimed at reviewing events of the civil rights movement fifty years ago and its implications for today.
Act one was a narration of key events leading to the March on Washington, aided with music and songs from the movement. For act one, I had lines in only two scenes: one, in which I explained the way that the antebellum laws of America were shaped around the belief that (shamelessly borrowing from George Orwell) all people are created equal, just some people are more equal than others. The second scene I was in I recited a City of Lincoln mayor's respond to criticism after banning non-whites from a new city pool. I felt terrible, being non-white myself.
Act two consisted of short scenes written by a group of cast members dealing with civil rights in today's environment. Native American rights (the most polarizing line: "we are not a mascot of a football team"), stereotypes on blacks and women and immigration were all touched.
My scene was inspired by a short documentary of Ellis Island. I saw how immigration has always been a touchy subject. Times may have changed, but circumstances of today's immigrants at the Southern border are not unlike those on the East Coast 100 years ago.
Burma is mentioned because they are the largest growing minority group in Lincoln.
I tried to put in as many hidden things in the scene. The chalk number, 1907, was the year with the greatest number of immigrants coming through Ellis Island. Anyone with a number at the station was held overnight because they were deemed unhealthy and with the probability of spreading disease in America.
It was awesome that after the play one night some girl came up to me and told me she understood what the number meant. I felt like a movie director that had hid an Easter egg in a movie and someone caught it and understood it. (I did the same sort of thing as editor of the Clocktower when the last sentence of the last page of the last issue I was in charge of read "This newspaper was tested on animals. They couldn't read it.").
Act one was a narration of key events leading to the March on Washington, aided with music and songs from the movement. For act one, I had lines in only two scenes: one, in which I explained the way that the antebellum laws of America were shaped around the belief that (shamelessly borrowing from George Orwell) all people are created equal, just some people are more equal than others. The second scene I was in I recited a City of Lincoln mayor's respond to criticism after banning non-whites from a new city pool. I felt terrible, being non-white myself.
Act two consisted of short scenes written by a group of cast members dealing with civil rights in today's environment. Native American rights (the most polarizing line: "we are not a mascot of a football team"), stereotypes on blacks and women and immigration were all touched.
My scene was inspired by a short documentary of Ellis Island. I saw how immigration has always been a touchy subject. Times may have changed, but circumstances of today's immigrants at the Southern border are not unlike those on the East Coast 100 years ago.
Burma is mentioned because they are the largest growing minority group in Lincoln.
I tried to put in as many hidden things in the scene. The chalk number, 1907, was the year with the greatest number of immigrants coming through Ellis Island. Anyone with a number at the station was held overnight because they were deemed unhealthy and with the probability of spreading disease in America.
It was awesome that after the play one night some girl came up to me and told me she understood what the number meant. I felt like a movie director that had hid an Easter egg in a movie and someone caught it and understood it. (I did the same sort of thing as editor of the Clocktower when the last sentence of the last page of the last issue I was in charge of read "This newspaper was tested on animals. They couldn't read it.").
Island of Dreams, I
Island of Dreams
Actor 1: Woman, doesn’t
have the five dollars to enter.
Actor 2: Man, has
been waiting overnight. Sick. Period costume, chalk number on his suit (meaning
he has an “illness”).
Actor 3: Man, husband
of 4. Allowed to stay
Actor 4: Woman, wife
of 3. Sent back
Actor 6:
Receptionist. Working away at paperwork.
7,8 extras. All just
waiting for their names to be called.
Officer 1: Tired
demeanor
Officer 2: Tired
demeanor
Setting: Ellis
Island. Some actors are dressed to period standards (1910s) and some are
dressed to modern standards. They are intermingled. Stage is set to look like a
waiting room, and there are two officers in “offices” to where people are
called to. One is dressed period and the other modern. Background noise of
people talking, babies crying, papers rustling
SCENE START
Actors 2,3,4 are sitting, chatting with 6,7,8 about the
trip.
Actor 7: How long was your trip?
Actor 3: We got lucky, it was only two weeks. The weather
wasn’t too bad.
Actor 7: Hear that, Bertha? The man made it in two weeks!
Actor 8: My nephew came about six months ago and he said it
took him an entire month!
Actor 4: Is this your first time here?
Actor 8: No, they turned me back last time, (faces Actor 2) –tuberculosis, you know.
As soon as I landed home I turned around and got on the boat back.
Actor 7: Yup, that’s where we met.
Actor 2: So why did you come back? Is it worth it here?
Actor 8: They say it is. Better than Burma.
Actor 1 walks in,
hesitates on a seat and finally decides on one. Everyone stares.
Actor 3: I think they might send me back.
Actor 4: Don’t say that, we’ve been praying non-stop. You
saw they let me stay.
Actor 3: Yes, but—
Actor 6: 2 and 3 may proceed.
Actor 4, 7, 8: Good luck!
Actors 2 and 3 sit
down and officers don’t even acknowledge the two coming in. Just motion with
their hands to sit down.
Actor 4: Hi
Actor 1: merely nods.
Actor 2: I want to work
Actor 1: I want to provide a better life for my daughter
Actor 3: I want my son to get a good education
officers write on
their notepads. Still haven't looked up at the people sitting in front of them.
Actor 4 and Officers 1 and 2: Where are you from?
Actor 3: El Salvador
Actor 2: Ireland
Actor 1: Italy. You?
Actor 4: Mexico. What do you do for a living?
Officers 1 and 2: Occupation?
Actor 2: Carpenter
Actor 3: Doctor
Actor 1: Housewife
Officers 1 and 2: How much money do you have with you?
Actor 2: $25
Actor 3: Here's the price of admission. shows money. Not much, but I want to work and help this country as
much as possible.
Actor 1: breaks down
and cries do you have money to lend me? I didn't know you needed money to
get in!
Actor 4: I only have enough for me!
Actor 1 looks at 7,8
Actors 7,8: ad lib
about not having, but will ask others. ACTOR 1 crying softly
Officers 1 and 2: Okay. Take this paperwork to the
Receptionist. You may leave.
Actors 2 and 3 take
their papers leave the offices. Hand papers to Receptionist, 2 first. 3 waits
in line after him.
Receptionist: I'm sorry, but your illness is deemed a threat
to the safety of the United States of America. we do not want you infecting
this country. Please go to the left and board the boat back to Liverpool.
Actor 2: No, please, I'm not sick! I only want to help this
country out! I'm not a disease!
Receptionist: Please sir. There's nothing I can do about
that. Next.
Actor 3: Here are the forms.
Receptionist: I'm sorry, sir, but we cannot risk you taking
out benefits in this country—
Actor 3: But I won't, I'm here to work—
Receptionist: Sorry. You'll be taking our jobs. Go to the
left door, and get on the plane which will be departing soon.
Actor 3: My family is here!
Receptionist: Door to the left.
Actor 4: What will we do?
Actor 3: I'll be back soon. I'm coming back whatever the
cost, and claiming the opportunity they advertise.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
What goes in my brain . . .
I do not watch just anything on television or films that come along. I know friends that hear of a new show or a new movie, watch the trailer, think it has enough explosions and naked people and decide they are going to watch it.
I try to keep to things that will give me a chance to expand my mind a bit. I won't watch just any Oscar-winning movie, I won't read just any bestseller, and I won't watch just any award-winning show.
So why do I watch Doctor Who? Surely, a fifty-year-old science-fiction show with aliens and stuff blowing up isn't fit for my rather high standards!
Let me tell you why: I can't explain it in a few words. Honestly, I find the writing incredible, and beneath all the aliens and funny parts, there are quotes like "In 900 years of space and time I haven't met anyone who isn't important."
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Words of Wisdom to the youngins
There's nothing I have to say that Dr. Seuss hasn't already.
Still, if one were so inclined to glean from me any wisdom, I will impart the little I have accumulated over the course of the past few years:
1. Find a mentor.
As simple as this may sound, a mentor (or mentors) can become an invaluable resource of advice and guidance.
2. Listen.
I cannot stress enough the importance of listening. Most wisdom and learning happens when we listen. Most relationship building hinges on your ability to listen. Listen to friends, significant others, teachers, mentors, parents, listen. Even if you don't agree, listen. Take notes in class. Take notes in class. Take notes in class. Take notes in class . . .
3. Don't live your life for others.
This applies on many levels. Learning how to say "no" is one of the most important things, especially for people like me that love to help out or attend every invitation I get. Don't pay attention to people that don't like you for who you are. Don't let friends, significant others, and even family take up all your life and leave no room for other things.
4. Become involved.
Don't say "no" to everything. Being involved allows you to improve yourself, meet other people, and get that high that comes with accomplishing something.
5. Make a plan and stick to it.
Goal setting is one of the best things to happen to anyone. Long term plans are not flexible. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Pastor Rojas told me in a chat we had after he spoke for vespers that this question shows your ability to gauge your growth potential by the way you describe your plan.
6. Make a plan and destroy it.
Short term plans should never control your life. These are the ones you change and improve and keep molding according to how you grow.
7. Talk to others with experience.
Anyone that has been around longer than you have is fair game, even if "on paper" you have more experience.
8. Pick up a personal hobby.
Taking time out to sharpen the saw and be alone is something everyone should do. Read, bike, pick up an instrument, do math problems you make up yourself--possibilities are endless.
10. Challenge yourself.
Take a class that you would never take in a million years. Set an impossible project and finish it. The accomplishment is amazing, and you might learn a thing or two along the way.
11. Leave every person you touch better than you found them.
This one's pretty self-explanatory. Make a positive mark in everyone you meet.
Remember that every person is the most important person in the universe. Remember that you are the most important person in the universe. There's only one you in the entire vastness of the universe. There's only one of them in the entire vastness of the universe. Love God with all your mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Still, if one were so inclined to glean from me any wisdom, I will impart the little I have accumulated over the course of the past few years:
1. Find a mentor.
As simple as this may sound, a mentor (or mentors) can become an invaluable resource of advice and guidance.
2. Listen.
I cannot stress enough the importance of listening. Most wisdom and learning happens when we listen. Most relationship building hinges on your ability to listen. Listen to friends, significant others, teachers, mentors, parents, listen. Even if you don't agree, listen. Take notes in class. Take notes in class. Take notes in class. Take notes in class . . .
3. Don't live your life for others.
This applies on many levels. Learning how to say "no" is one of the most important things, especially for people like me that love to help out or attend every invitation I get. Don't pay attention to people that don't like you for who you are. Don't let friends, significant others, and even family take up all your life and leave no room for other things.
4. Become involved.
Don't say "no" to everything. Being involved allows you to improve yourself, meet other people, and get that high that comes with accomplishing something.
5. Make a plan and stick to it.
Goal setting is one of the best things to happen to anyone. Long term plans are not flexible. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Pastor Rojas told me in a chat we had after he spoke for vespers that this question shows your ability to gauge your growth potential by the way you describe your plan.
6. Make a plan and destroy it.
Short term plans should never control your life. These are the ones you change and improve and keep molding according to how you grow.
7. Talk to others with experience.
Anyone that has been around longer than you have is fair game, even if "on paper" you have more experience.
8. Pick up a personal hobby.
Taking time out to sharpen the saw and be alone is something everyone should do. Read, bike, pick up an instrument, do math problems you make up yourself--possibilities are endless.
10. Challenge yourself.
Take a class that you would never take in a million years. Set an impossible project and finish it. The accomplishment is amazing, and you might learn a thing or two along the way.
11. Leave every person you touch better than you found them.
This one's pretty self-explanatory. Make a positive mark in everyone you meet.
Remember that every person is the most important person in the universe. Remember that you are the most important person in the universe. There's only one you in the entire vastness of the universe. There's only one of them in the entire vastness of the universe. Love God with all your mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
According to 4th graders,
Justice is:
"Standing up for someone else."
"When we're at peace with one another."
"When everyone has the same rights."
"Equality."
"Fairness."
"Sharing."
"Treat others the way you want to be treated."
"Friends."
"When we work together."
"Teamwork."
"Being nice to bullies."
Forgiveness is:
"Very important. I will write a note to the person who abused me saying I forgive him."
Their most favorite thing in the world:
"Football."
"Books."
"Instruments."
"The family that adopted me."
"Friends."
"Sports."
"Math."
Sharing--even with people who are mean--
"Is important because if you're not nice then the person will still be mean, and if the mean person has something another day he might not share."
On Inequality:
"It's not fair."
"When poor people have no money, they end up having to go to People's City Mission."
"It's harder for the poor because the rich get richer and the poor is hard for them to not be."
On Self-Image:
"Hey! You're the pretty girl!" Made all the "grown-ups" smile.
"It's easy, because you're skinny!" The surprised look on the skinny girl's face told me she didn't think of herself as skinny very often. Maybe we should all talk to kids more often.
"You're the funny one!" I've always thought of myself a bit on the corny side rather than funny, but maybe I should think again.
On Life:
"I told the other group about my past." (In 4th grade . . .) "I told them about how I've been adopted three times: once by a Native American family, then by a family that didn't give me my meds, and now by this family who loves me."
Kid: "My name is Atticus."
Me: "Oh, Atticus Finch!"
Kid: "That's who I was named after."
I don't like teaching little kids much, I'm not smart enough to explain things in a simple way. Today, though, it was just fine because they were the ones taking me to school, teaching me lessons in the simplest of language.
"Standing up for someone else."
"When we're at peace with one another."
"When everyone has the same rights."
"Equality."
"Fairness."
"Sharing."
"Treat others the way you want to be treated."
"Friends."
"When we work together."
"Teamwork."
"Being nice to bullies."
Forgiveness is:
"Very important. I will write a note to the person who abused me saying I forgive him."
Their most favorite thing in the world:
"Football."
"Books."
"Instruments."
"The family that adopted me."
"Friends."
"Sports."
"Math."
Sharing--even with people who are mean--
"Is important because if you're not nice then the person will still be mean, and if the mean person has something another day he might not share."
On Inequality:
"It's not fair."
"When poor people have no money, they end up having to go to People's City Mission."
"It's harder for the poor because the rich get richer and the poor is hard for them to not be."
On Self-Image:
"Hey! You're the pretty girl!" Made all the "grown-ups" smile.
"It's easy, because you're skinny!" The surprised look on the skinny girl's face told me she didn't think of herself as skinny very often. Maybe we should all talk to kids more often.
"You're the funny one!" I've always thought of myself a bit on the corny side rather than funny, but maybe I should think again.
On Life:
"I told the other group about my past." (In 4th grade . . .) "I told them about how I've been adopted three times: once by a Native American family, then by a family that didn't give me my meds, and now by this family who loves me."
Kid: "My name is Atticus."
Me: "Oh, Atticus Finch!"
Kid: "That's who I was named after."
I don't like teaching little kids much, I'm not smart enough to explain things in a simple way. Today, though, it was just fine because they were the ones taking me to school, teaching me lessons in the simplest of language.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
God's not a linear God, II (or, a Critical Review of Darren Aronofsky's "Noah")
I'm infuriated.
I cannot stand the twisting lies that are being told.
Let me back up a bit.
There's a certain British actress which has caught my eye for quite some time now named Emma Watson. Classy, smart (straight As all throughout British school system and a soon-to-be graduate of Ivy League Brown University), and beautiful, I've been following her career.
She announced she would be in a project called "Noah," about the Biblical character. At first, I had no idea how the heck this would work. Any Biblical adaptation to the big screen can be really sketchy. I can count on one hand the Biblical movies that have been good and at the same time well-grounded.
I saw the trailers and was amazed at the visuals. Then, I researched the movie.
Turns out, the director had co-written a graphic novel on Noah that had been controversial with conservative Christian reviewers, most of whom said in their reviews that they hadn't read it because (and I'm paraphrasing) they didn't want to have anything to do with lies.
I researched it and read bits, and I found out that Daronofsky (raised a Jew, yet an Atheist now) intended to create another flood myth and combine aspects of many other flood myths (read the Qu'ran's version of Noah, Epic of Gilgamesh, Chapter 3 of the Popol Vuh, Trentren and Caicai Vilu, and others) to create a "master" myth. He found that basing the main story arc in the Bible's point of view worked best.
This became the movie.
The night before the movie came out, a horribly one-sided review came out following months of people criticizing it for not being Biblical (since the author wanted to create another myth mostly based on the Bible but not the Bible's version, he put a disclaimer on all the trailers stating that creative license had been taken and if one were so inclined to read the Biblical story, one could visit Genesis).
This review was exaggerated, and the author had been under fire for calling President Obama a racist.
A comment war on facebook exploded. I joined only to disregard the article, not the movie. Soon, the movie became the conversation. I explained the mono-myth approach, to which (and I've heard this argument many times since, including in an Amazing Facts review of a review of a review) someone argued that Noah was a mage who had demons help him build an ark out of a magic forest.
I had done my research.
Noah plants the forest, just like in the Qu'ran's version. That's when I noticed that all the other criticisms could be utterly wrong.
Thursday (opening night for the movie) after our play performance, two literature/film buddies of mine decided to go watch it. Heck, we thought, there's a theater that has comfy seats and free popcorn and $5 movies for students. Let's go learn something--even if we're disappointed, we'll know why the movie was wrong and not rely on hearsay.
All I can say is that this movie is one of the best films I have ever seen.
First thing I did as I arrived in my apartment was take out my Bible. After reading and re-reading and re-re-re-reading the story, I was astonished at how much I thought I knew the story and how much I really didn't. (How much of the Bible do we really know and not just remember vaguely from sermons and Bible stories?). I appreciated the accuracy.
Everything that is in the Bible is in the story. Things that aren't only work to advance the main plotlines: man's wickedness (which caused the flood) then and how it relates to today (soldiers from all eras including modern are depicted when the subject of brother against brother is brought up after Cain and Abel), redemption (arguably the underlying and main plot story arc), a merciful God who is willing to give us a choice and a second chance (In Noah's hands the fate of the human race is left), stewardship (one of the main wickedness is our inability to serve nature and creation around us, including a bit about vegetarianism and eating meat--only after the flood are we allowed by God to eat meat, so it stands to reason that someone just would have been vegetarian), A God who speaks after the point of desperation (many people lose their faith because God seems silent at the time of most apparent need. This God is silent many times, but in the end comes through even after all hope seems to have been lost--I feel an accurate view, because hope is never lost when He's around).
I only had one problem with the story: a certain storyline--brilliant, by the way--could have been cut and the plot could have advanced just the same. But that's just a literature freak talking.
Throughout the movie, there were several parts of the movie where I wished I could have paused it and thought for a minute.
The ride back was full of conversation. My two friends and I concluded that the movie was grandiose. As I tweeted, "Majestic in scope, masterful storytelling," and I might add "compelling, thought-provoking, and moving. Not for entertainment purposes. A stern warning." The Bible verse "as in the days of Lot and Noah" came alive as the director mirrored man's wickedness to things we do today.
When I read the Amazing Facts review, I was astounded at the gall and ignorance of the post. The reviewer says: "We’ve been paying close attention to the reviews of this film from both Christian and non-Christian critics alike." Then he lists lies spread about the movie:
The worst lies in the article are these: "it's likely the filmmakers believe Genesis is a mere fable and seek to change your perceptions about God and the Bible." Never to change your perception, just give you another view which you don't have to agree with. I don't agree with Gilgamesh and still find it edifying. How dare we say that God allowed all civilizations to live without any light until they were reached by us.
The article is right: the Bible isn't meant for amusement. It is wrong in that it accuses the movie of doing that, when the film clearly cannot be seen if you are not ready to learn and discuss afterwards.
We, as Christians, do not hold the legal and the only rights to the truth. How dare we take claim over those. While I can say that the only source material I trust 100% is the Bible, that will not stop me from learning from others that have the limited light available to other cultures, while they wait for Christ to illuminate them himself.
If one only wants to find faults, one can do so watching this or even a Doug Batchelor sermon. Mindset is everything. Point of view matters--especially from a world wide flood. If one does not understand that there have been countless cultures with their own literature and that the Bible's account itself came from spoken stories, it is easy to discount it.
If you are not educated outside of what you grew up hearing, do not watch it. If you want to be entertained, stay home or don't download it.
Otherwise, you'd be a fool to miss it.
I cannot stand the twisting lies that are being told.
Let me back up a bit.
There's a certain British actress which has caught my eye for quite some time now named Emma Watson. Classy, smart (straight As all throughout British school system and a soon-to-be graduate of Ivy League Brown University), and beautiful, I've been following her career.
She announced she would be in a project called "Noah," about the Biblical character. At first, I had no idea how the heck this would work. Any Biblical adaptation to the big screen can be really sketchy. I can count on one hand the Biblical movies that have been good and at the same time well-grounded.
I saw the trailers and was amazed at the visuals. Then, I researched the movie.
Turns out, the director had co-written a graphic novel on Noah that had been controversial with conservative Christian reviewers, most of whom said in their reviews that they hadn't read it because (and I'm paraphrasing) they didn't want to have anything to do with lies.
I researched it and read bits, and I found out that Daronofsky (raised a Jew, yet an Atheist now) intended to create another flood myth and combine aspects of many other flood myths (read the Qu'ran's version of Noah, Epic of Gilgamesh, Chapter 3 of the Popol Vuh, Trentren and Caicai Vilu, and others) to create a "master" myth. He found that basing the main story arc in the Bible's point of view worked best.
This became the movie.
The night before the movie came out, a horribly one-sided review came out following months of people criticizing it for not being Biblical (since the author wanted to create another myth mostly based on the Bible but not the Bible's version, he put a disclaimer on all the trailers stating that creative license had been taken and if one were so inclined to read the Biblical story, one could visit Genesis).
This review was exaggerated, and the author had been under fire for calling President Obama a racist.
A comment war on facebook exploded. I joined only to disregard the article, not the movie. Soon, the movie became the conversation. I explained the mono-myth approach, to which (and I've heard this argument many times since, including in an Amazing Facts review of a review of a review) someone argued that Noah was a mage who had demons help him build an ark out of a magic forest.
I had done my research.
Noah plants the forest, just like in the Qu'ran's version. That's when I noticed that all the other criticisms could be utterly wrong.
Thursday (opening night for the movie) after our play performance, two literature/film buddies of mine decided to go watch it. Heck, we thought, there's a theater that has comfy seats and free popcorn and $5 movies for students. Let's go learn something--even if we're disappointed, we'll know why the movie was wrong and not rely on hearsay.
All I can say is that this movie is one of the best films I have ever seen.
First thing I did as I arrived in my apartment was take out my Bible. After reading and re-reading and re-re-re-reading the story, I was astonished at how much I thought I knew the story and how much I really didn't. (How much of the Bible do we really know and not just remember vaguely from sermons and Bible stories?). I appreciated the accuracy.
Everything that is in the Bible is in the story. Things that aren't only work to advance the main plotlines: man's wickedness (which caused the flood) then and how it relates to today (soldiers from all eras including modern are depicted when the subject of brother against brother is brought up after Cain and Abel), redemption (arguably the underlying and main plot story arc), a merciful God who is willing to give us a choice and a second chance (In Noah's hands the fate of the human race is left), stewardship (one of the main wickedness is our inability to serve nature and creation around us, including a bit about vegetarianism and eating meat--only after the flood are we allowed by God to eat meat, so it stands to reason that someone just would have been vegetarian), A God who speaks after the point of desperation (many people lose their faith because God seems silent at the time of most apparent need. This God is silent many times, but in the end comes through even after all hope seems to have been lost--I feel an accurate view, because hope is never lost when He's around).
I only had one problem with the story: a certain storyline--brilliant, by the way--could have been cut and the plot could have advanced just the same. But that's just a literature freak talking.
Throughout the movie, there were several parts of the movie where I wished I could have paused it and thought for a minute.
The ride back was full of conversation. My two friends and I concluded that the movie was grandiose. As I tweeted, "Majestic in scope, masterful storytelling," and I might add "compelling, thought-provoking, and moving. Not for entertainment purposes. A stern warning." The Bible verse "as in the days of Lot and Noah" came alive as the director mirrored man's wickedness to things we do today.
When I read the Amazing Facts review, I was astounded at the gall and ignorance of the post. The reviewer says: "We’ve been paying close attention to the reviews of this film from both Christian and non-Christian critics alike." Then he lists lies spread about the movie:
- Satan’s fallen angels protect Noah while he builds the ark
- To stop the earth from being repopulated, Noah tries to kill his son’s pregnant wife
- Noah is portrayed as a uncaring, coarse man reluctant to follow God’s instructions
- Methuselah is characterized as some sort of witch doctor who guides Noah spiritually!
The worst lies in the article are these: "it's likely the filmmakers believe Genesis is a mere fable and seek to change your perceptions about God and the Bible." Never to change your perception, just give you another view which you don't have to agree with. I don't agree with Gilgamesh and still find it edifying. How dare we say that God allowed all civilizations to live without any light until they were reached by us.
The article is right: the Bible isn't meant for amusement. It is wrong in that it accuses the movie of doing that, when the film clearly cannot be seen if you are not ready to learn and discuss afterwards.
We, as Christians, do not hold the legal and the only rights to the truth. How dare we take claim over those. While I can say that the only source material I trust 100% is the Bible, that will not stop me from learning from others that have the limited light available to other cultures, while they wait for Christ to illuminate them himself.
If one only wants to find faults, one can do so watching this or even a Doug Batchelor sermon. Mindset is everything. Point of view matters--especially from a world wide flood. If one does not understand that there have been countless cultures with their own literature and that the Bible's account itself came from spoken stories, it is easy to discount it.
If you are not educated outside of what you grew up hearing, do not watch it. If you want to be entertained, stay home or don't download it.
Otherwise, you'd be a fool to miss it.
On the topic of the problem of evil . . .
The author was 13
The Dove
A Poem by Darren Aronofsky
January 13, 1982
Evil was in the world
The laughing crowd
Left the foolish man at his ark
Filled with animals
When the rain began to fall
It was hopeless
The man could not take the evil crowd with him
But he was allowed to bring his good family.
The rain continued through the night
And the cries of screaming men filled the air
The ark was afloat
Until the dove returned with the leaf
Evil still existed.
When the rainbows reached throughout the sky
The humble man and his family knew what it meant
The animals ran and flew freely with their newborn
The fog rose and the sun shone
Peace was in the air
And it soon appeared in all of man’s heart.
He knew evil would not be kept away
For evil and war could not be destroyed
But neither was it possible to destroy peace
Evil is hard to end and peace is hard to begin
But the rainbow and the dove will always live
Within every man’s heart.
The Dove
A Poem by Darren Aronofsky
January 13, 1982
Evil was in the world
The laughing crowd
Left the foolish man at his ark
Filled with animals
When the rain began to fall
It was hopeless
The man could not take the evil crowd with him
But he was allowed to bring his good family.
The rain continued through the night
And the cries of screaming men filled the air
The ark was afloat
Until the dove returned with the leaf
Evil still existed.
When the rainbows reached throughout the sky
The humble man and his family knew what it meant
The animals ran and flew freely with their newborn
The fog rose and the sun shone
Peace was in the air
And it soon appeared in all of man’s heart.
He knew evil would not be kept away
For evil and war could not be destroyed
But neither was it possible to destroy peace
Evil is hard to end and peace is hard to begin
But the rainbow and the dove will always live
Within every man’s heart.
Monday, March 17, 2014
The problem
The thermostat is set to 67 degrees, but it feels like it could be twice as much as that.
The question I set out my four guests was, I thought, simple. "What is evil?" I asked, by trustworthy black and white composition book ready to write down the wisdom I was sure would flow from these great minds.
Instead I got blank looks. Fyodor slurped at his coffee, and Augustine merely stared at his, fighting the bitter aftertaste. I passed the sugar.
That was two hours ago. They said we needed to define other things first, but we've been arguing about what should be defined first.
Augustine was the first. "We should define first what good is, God."
"No," says Fyodor firmly. "It's not about God, it's about why people do evil."
"Why God lets evil happen—" And so on. Augustine is insistent on theodicy. David just nods and smiles while Augustine talks, and then shows how God cannot exist because—much to Augustine's chagrin—evil does exist. Mackie is jumping in his seat, and with every argument David pulls out Mackie gets increasingly more ecstatic. Dostoevsky doesn't speak. Apparently, he wants to be the one with the last word.
(Probably some definitions wouldn't be bad here. Theodicy is "the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil." The problem, of course, is what is Evil?)
Four philosophers, a student, and a cup of coffee
Okay, I'm gonna need everyone's help with this. I will be posting parts of my paper and I want y'all to discuss the problem/thesis raised in that particular part of the paper. I will post the next section as soon as I get a comment.
In this paper, I am dialoguing with four philosophers on the problem of Evil. This problem is legend in the religious circles: how can there be a good God and yet Evil is present? It also takes on other forms: Does Evil exist? Where do our morals and ethics come from? Why is something Good and the other not? Who decides what is Evil, or what is Good?
I am talking to St. Augustine, of the original apologetic masterminds. Much of the theology adopted by Christianity today can be traced somehow or other back to Augustine's beliefs. Although he was a bit controversial--and still is, there has been a rise in his reading with the advent of Postmodernism and the return to High Church tradition among today's people (see my reblog Why Young People Are Leaving the Church . . . it might be under the name "Worth a read from CNN's belief blog"). He held that everything was created good but ultimately corruptible . . . I won't give too much away right now.
I'm also talking to David Hume. He was an eighteenth-century skeptic who held that God doesn't exist because there is evil. Hume, an empiricist (knowledge comes through experience) is famous for inspiring Immanuel Kant, in my opinion one of the most extreme philosophers out there (we can't know anything except that we can perceive it....yeah, I know, me too).
The other two are Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment) and J.L. Mackie. Dostoevsky likes to give his opinion and then shoot it down by saying that he could be completely wrong except when he's not. Mackie is most famous for stating that ethics were inventions.
Okay. These are oversimplified versions of what they actually thought, but the paper will delve deeper into that.
Have fun!
In this paper, I am dialoguing with four philosophers on the problem of Evil. This problem is legend in the religious circles: how can there be a good God and yet Evil is present? It also takes on other forms: Does Evil exist? Where do our morals and ethics come from? Why is something Good and the other not? Who decides what is Evil, or what is Good?
I am talking to St. Augustine, of the original apologetic masterminds. Much of the theology adopted by Christianity today can be traced somehow or other back to Augustine's beliefs. Although he was a bit controversial--and still is, there has been a rise in his reading with the advent of Postmodernism and the return to High Church tradition among today's people (see my reblog Why Young People Are Leaving the Church . . . it might be under the name "Worth a read from CNN's belief blog"). He held that everything was created good but ultimately corruptible . . . I won't give too much away right now.
I'm also talking to David Hume. He was an eighteenth-century skeptic who held that God doesn't exist because there is evil. Hume, an empiricist (knowledge comes through experience) is famous for inspiring Immanuel Kant, in my opinion one of the most extreme philosophers out there (we can't know anything except that we can perceive it....yeah, I know, me too).
The other two are Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment) and J.L. Mackie. Dostoevsky likes to give his opinion and then shoot it down by saying that he could be completely wrong except when he's not. Mackie is most famous for stating that ethics were inventions.
Okay. These are oversimplified versions of what they actually thought, but the paper will delve deeper into that.
Have fun!
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Wait I'm not done!
I am invigorated.
In the midst of applying to about a thousand jobs and graduation coming close I made some time for my philosophy paper I'm a bit weary of. This means a lot of different books and--boy oh boy--I'm so full of ideas!
I will continue posting here. I will also post my philosophy paper, probably not the final draft so that any comments can help shape the argument past the assignment deadline.
All this after getting a purple bow tie for 99 cents.
In the midst of applying to about a thousand jobs and graduation coming close I made some time for my philosophy paper I'm a bit weary of. This means a lot of different books and--boy oh boy--I'm so full of ideas!
I will continue posting here. I will also post my philosophy paper, probably not the final draft so that any comments can help shape the argument past the assignment deadline.
All this after getting a purple bow tie for 99 cents.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
My reasoning
I started my blog October of my second year of college. I'm about two months from graduating and I'm seriously considering making this my last post.
I have about twenty drafts I haven't published yet, because I never quite polished my thoughts on that particular subject. Maybe in a couple days I will be tired enough to keep writing.
Ever since I started the blog, it has had a therapeutic effect on me. My thoughts finally line up and I can find sleep easier. These last days it hasn't helped much.
I'm on the verge of some huge decisions. People ask me why I chose the career I'm going into. Others remind me--I hate it, because I know--that the job outlook is grim and the salary isn't much better. After really thinking about this, I have finally come to my definitive reason.
I used to say something along these lines: "I wanted to become a missionary doctor. When that door closed, I chose journalism because of the similarity. Missionary doctors travel places to heal people there, while journalists travel places to heal people back home."
Okay, valid point. Still, I feel it may be a bit greedy and pretentious. I don't just want to take the honor for creating a new conscience. I realized that even though I may create new conscience, the main focus should never be the impact--instead, focus on speaking to the reader, telling a story.
Here's my new reason of why I'm a journalism major:
"Everyone has a story to tell. Whether they know it or not, that story is the most important story in the world. Everyone's story is the most important--it is others who have tried to snuff out certain stories. Like the Doctor said in a Christmas episode of Doctor Who, 'I'm 900 years old and I haven't met anyone who wasn't important.' I want to tell people's stories. I want them to realize that their story is the most important story--maybe if we all realize we're all the most important people in the world, we might treat each other better."
I have about twenty drafts I haven't published yet, because I never quite polished my thoughts on that particular subject. Maybe in a couple days I will be tired enough to keep writing.
Ever since I started the blog, it has had a therapeutic effect on me. My thoughts finally line up and I can find sleep easier. These last days it hasn't helped much.
I'm on the verge of some huge decisions. People ask me why I chose the career I'm going into. Others remind me--I hate it, because I know--that the job outlook is grim and the salary isn't much better. After really thinking about this, I have finally come to my definitive reason.
I used to say something along these lines: "I wanted to become a missionary doctor. When that door closed, I chose journalism because of the similarity. Missionary doctors travel places to heal people there, while journalists travel places to heal people back home."
Okay, valid point. Still, I feel it may be a bit greedy and pretentious. I don't just want to take the honor for creating a new conscience. I realized that even though I may create new conscience, the main focus should never be the impact--instead, focus on speaking to the reader, telling a story.
Here's my new reason of why I'm a journalism major:
"Everyone has a story to tell. Whether they know it or not, that story is the most important story in the world. Everyone's story is the most important--it is others who have tried to snuff out certain stories. Like the Doctor said in a Christmas episode of Doctor Who, 'I'm 900 years old and I haven't met anyone who wasn't important.' I want to tell people's stories. I want them to realize that their story is the most important story--maybe if we all realize we're all the most important people in the world, we might treat each other better."
Haunting
In the midst of the purges of Soviet Russia (beginning in the 1940s) from Stalin, a composer called Dimitri Shoskatovich wrote his fifth Symphony.
The mood of the times is most vivid in the third movement.
I can't stop listening.
The mood of the times is most vivid in the third movement.
I can't stop listening.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Pretty Close to True (or, From the Argentine giant Jorge Luis Borges' genius, I)
Lectores
De aquel hidalgo de cetrina y seca
tez y de heroico afán se conjetura
que, en víspera perpetua de aventura,
no salió nunca de su biblioteca.
La crónica puntual que sus empeños
narra y sus tragicómicos desplantes
fue soñada por él, no por Cervantes,
y no es más que una crónica de sueños.
Tal es también mi suerte. Sé que hay algo
inmortal y esencial que he sepultado
en esa biblioteca del pasado
en que leí la historia del hidalgo.
Las lentas hojas vuelve un niño y grave
sueña con vagas cosas que no sabe.
De aquel hidalgo de cetrina y seca
tez y de heroico afán se conjetura
que, en víspera perpetua de aventura,
no salió nunca de su biblioteca.
La crónica puntual que sus empeños
narra y sus tragicómicos desplantes
fue soñada por él, no por Cervantes,
y no es más que una crónica de sueños.
Tal es también mi suerte. Sé que hay algo
inmortal y esencial que he sepultado
en esa biblioteca del pasado
en que leí la historia del hidalgo.
Las lentas hojas vuelve un niño y grave
sueña con vagas cosas que no sabe.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
How the nicest person at Union became the nicest person at Union: Darla Peterson
It's raining, and my shoes are leaking. I'm making the long trek to the Jorgensen Hall, backwoods at Union were friends go and disappear, only to emerge four years later with a degree and a tired, accomplished look. One of the reasons no one has gone (too) crazy in there, I hear, is because of Mrs. Darla Peterson. There's people that swear she's the nicest person on campus. I've witnessed that niceness my freshman year, in the form of a candy dish she has out for students needing a slight pick-me-up. So in the planning for collecting stories about calling, I instantly thought of her and approached Mrs. Peterson about a possible interview. She was all for it.
Her office isn't the most accessible place in the building, ("but it will be in the new building!" she says) but it always manages to stay full of students and people. I walk in, and it is full of people. There's two important looking people in Dr. Wolfe's office (she's the Math and Science Division head), a teacher making copies, and a student worker filing papers away. Mrs. Peterson looks up from her computer and smiles. "Pablo! Yes, I remembered. Where do you want to talk?"
"Wherever is most convenient, I guess." I haven't spent much time in this building since my freshman year, so I don't know the best interview-worthy spots.
"Okay. Let's go to the scales room, we can talk in there." She leads me to the room I remember most out of General Chem. I messed up pretty badly once in a lab there, and I don't think my group has forgiven me yet.
"So," she begins, pulling up a couple of chairs, "remind me what you're writing about."
"Okay. Well, I'm working with a spiritual mentor this semester who also happens to be playing a pretty big role in the new calling program for freshmen. One of the things I'm working on is just listening more, so my mentor proposed I go around campus collecting stories about calling from staff and a couple of students."
"Oh okay, so you get different views."
"Yeah, that's what I'm shooting for." There is a second of silence. I realize a prompt might not be out of place here. "So, I guess, to start out with, I want to see what 'calling' means to you, what is your personal definition of calling." Mrs. Peterson sighs and thinks for a bit.
"Calling, for me, is God's plan for my life. I believe God has a plan for my life, even though God's plan and our plan aren't always parallel."
I'm curious. So I go straight to the point. "How did you come about that definition?"
Mrs. Peterson smiles. "I always thought I'd become a teacher. I wanted to do Task Forcing and maybe even serve as a student missionary. Thankfully, God was okay with my plan.
I came to Union and became an education major, and I eventually went to Enterprise Academy as a Task Force worker. I also served as a student missionary in Zimbabwe, where I taught. Later on, I would teach for one year at Sioux Falls, where I gained a new respect for teachers, because," she almost looks around mischievously, "parents can be a pain!"
I laugh, but in my notes I'm way behind: Mrs. Peterson is very excited. She continues, "Also, while here at Union, I met Rocky, my husband. I wanted to be a mom, a stay at home mom, to be there for my children. Again, God was okay with my plans. I am blessed with four daughters, and I stayed at home until all of them began school.
At that point, I had been out of work for 10 years, and we needed some extra income for their schooling. So I applied for Target and was hired. In fact, I worked there for seven years."
"Wow, how did you end up at Union?" I ask, maybe a bit too eagerly.
"God," she says without hesitation. "He told me it was time to step out of my comfort zone."
"Hmm," I say, but I can tell she can read my eyes. I want to hear more.
"A lady who I knew saw me at Target one day and told me, 'you should come to Union.' I laughed it off then, I mean, I had been out of the workforce for 10 years and at Target for another seven! I didn't think I could do this anymore. She insisted, though, and even offered to help me with my resume. So we did that, and we had an interview set up with Dr. Abbey, the former head of Math and Science. I got the job, and even was put into the intro to computers class so I could better learn how to use the computer for this job as office manager."
"That's amazing," I say. "God really put some big opportunities open for you."
"You know Pablo, it's not just on the big things that He's opened doors. Sometimes, it's the little things, too."
"Definitely."
"We recently sold our house of 21 years, and for a long time, no matter what we did, the house was not bought. Rocky and I prayed about it, and we never questioned His listening to our prayers. We ended up selling our house and finding a good apartment for my husband and me while we transitioned."
I want to get this story back to the "calling" aspect. I know that the house story might not be completely related, but it establishes Mrs. Peterson's trust in God, and I can tell that, at least to her, this is paramount in hearing and answering your call.
"So why do you decide to stay and minister to students year after year?" I ask, not really knowing how she would answer the question. It's a bit vague, but I like the open ended approach.
"I want to let God use me, not to teach, but to be taught. I want to be His hands, His feet. I've worked with 2-3-year-olds in Sabbath School, and other age groups, but college is a good fit. The students are supportive, and I want to be supportive, too."
"If I were here asking for advice, a fool-proof way to follow my calling, what do I need to know?"
Mrs. Peterson smiles. I have a feeling she's had this question asked to her before multiple times. "Go for opportunities you have, volunteer, intern--let God lead you. Let Him mold you into who He is wherever you travel. He's not going to give you a map, instead, in whatever road you choose, He can and will still lead you."
I write the answer down. I should have ended the interview ten minutes ago, so I think hard of how to tie this up. In the meantime, I cover up the increasingly more awkward silence by jotting down a couple more notes. Then it hits me.
"Okay, this will be the last question," I say.
"Okay," she smiles (she really does smile a lot).
"I came with a lot of questions, and I think life is all about answering questions. But what is one question I should answer as I go on?"
She doesn't pause for a second. "How is God working through my life?"
Beautiful, I think. "Well, Mrs. Peterson," I say as I close my black Composition book, "Thank you so much for your time, it was an absolute pleasure."
"The pleasure was mine, Pablo."
We shake hands, and then she says, "Before you leave, let me pray for you."
Her office isn't the most accessible place in the building, ("but it will be in the new building!" she says) but it always manages to stay full of students and people. I walk in, and it is full of people. There's two important looking people in Dr. Wolfe's office (she's the Math and Science Division head), a teacher making copies, and a student worker filing papers away. Mrs. Peterson looks up from her computer and smiles. "Pablo! Yes, I remembered. Where do you want to talk?"
"Wherever is most convenient, I guess." I haven't spent much time in this building since my freshman year, so I don't know the best interview-worthy spots.
"Okay. Let's go to the scales room, we can talk in there." She leads me to the room I remember most out of General Chem. I messed up pretty badly once in a lab there, and I don't think my group has forgiven me yet.
"So," she begins, pulling up a couple of chairs, "remind me what you're writing about."
"Okay. Well, I'm working with a spiritual mentor this semester who also happens to be playing a pretty big role in the new calling program for freshmen. One of the things I'm working on is just listening more, so my mentor proposed I go around campus collecting stories about calling from staff and a couple of students."
"Oh okay, so you get different views."
"Yeah, that's what I'm shooting for." There is a second of silence. I realize a prompt might not be out of place here. "So, I guess, to start out with, I want to see what 'calling' means to you, what is your personal definition of calling." Mrs. Peterson sighs and thinks for a bit.
"Calling, for me, is God's plan for my life. I believe God has a plan for my life, even though God's plan and our plan aren't always parallel."
I'm curious. So I go straight to the point. "How did you come about that definition?"
Mrs. Peterson smiles. "I always thought I'd become a teacher. I wanted to do Task Forcing and maybe even serve as a student missionary. Thankfully, God was okay with my plan.
I came to Union and became an education major, and I eventually went to Enterprise Academy as a Task Force worker. I also served as a student missionary in Zimbabwe, where I taught. Later on, I would teach for one year at Sioux Falls, where I gained a new respect for teachers, because," she almost looks around mischievously, "parents can be a pain!"
I laugh, but in my notes I'm way behind: Mrs. Peterson is very excited. She continues, "Also, while here at Union, I met Rocky, my husband. I wanted to be a mom, a stay at home mom, to be there for my children. Again, God was okay with my plans. I am blessed with four daughters, and I stayed at home until all of them began school.
At that point, I had been out of work for 10 years, and we needed some extra income for their schooling. So I applied for Target and was hired. In fact, I worked there for seven years."
"Wow, how did you end up at Union?" I ask, maybe a bit too eagerly.
"God," she says without hesitation. "He told me it was time to step out of my comfort zone."
"Hmm," I say, but I can tell she can read my eyes. I want to hear more.
"A lady who I knew saw me at Target one day and told me, 'you should come to Union.' I laughed it off then, I mean, I had been out of the workforce for 10 years and at Target for another seven! I didn't think I could do this anymore. She insisted, though, and even offered to help me with my resume. So we did that, and we had an interview set up with Dr. Abbey, the former head of Math and Science. I got the job, and even was put into the intro to computers class so I could better learn how to use the computer for this job as office manager."
"That's amazing," I say. "God really put some big opportunities open for you."
"You know Pablo, it's not just on the big things that He's opened doors. Sometimes, it's the little things, too."
"Definitely."
"We recently sold our house of 21 years, and for a long time, no matter what we did, the house was not bought. Rocky and I prayed about it, and we never questioned His listening to our prayers. We ended up selling our house and finding a good apartment for my husband and me while we transitioned."
I want to get this story back to the "calling" aspect. I know that the house story might not be completely related, but it establishes Mrs. Peterson's trust in God, and I can tell that, at least to her, this is paramount in hearing and answering your call.
"So why do you decide to stay and minister to students year after year?" I ask, not really knowing how she would answer the question. It's a bit vague, but I like the open ended approach.
"I want to let God use me, not to teach, but to be taught. I want to be His hands, His feet. I've worked with 2-3-year-olds in Sabbath School, and other age groups, but college is a good fit. The students are supportive, and I want to be supportive, too."
"If I were here asking for advice, a fool-proof way to follow my calling, what do I need to know?"
Mrs. Peterson smiles. I have a feeling she's had this question asked to her before multiple times. "Go for opportunities you have, volunteer, intern--let God lead you. Let Him mold you into who He is wherever you travel. He's not going to give you a map, instead, in whatever road you choose, He can and will still lead you."
I write the answer down. I should have ended the interview ten minutes ago, so I think hard of how to tie this up. In the meantime, I cover up the increasingly more awkward silence by jotting down a couple more notes. Then it hits me.
"Okay, this will be the last question," I say.
"Okay," she smiles (she really does smile a lot).
"I came with a lot of questions, and I think life is all about answering questions. But what is one question I should answer as I go on?"
She doesn't pause for a second. "How is God working through my life?"
Beautiful, I think. "Well, Mrs. Peterson," I say as I close my black Composition book, "Thank you so much for your time, it was an absolute pleasure."
"The pleasure was mine, Pablo."
We shake hands, and then she says, "Before you leave, let me pray for you."
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