Interfaith Lent!

Greetings from the Windy City!  I hop everybody had a reflective Ash Wednesday and begining of Lent.  Before getting started I would like to share with you a blog that I found meaningful:  http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/17/lent-isnt-about-denial-its-about-transformation/

On that note, for Lent I have decided to be mindful of food and fast on Friday.  So Friday night I went with some of the girls from work and Jordan-a guy that works with one of our partners-to IMAN's(Inner-city Muslim Action Network) community cafe-which is basically a chance every two months that provides a venue for Muslims in Chicago to gather and have a venue to perform. Before hand we had decided to go out to eat but as I was fasting I did not get anything to eat.  As everybody sat at the table to wait for their food, we began to find some irony in the situation.  Here I was as a Christian fasting-with a group that was mostly Muslim.   As we sat and shared in this Interfaith experience, it was interesting for us all to feel the role reversal.  Those in the group who were Muslim, shared that most times they were the one faster in a group of people who were eating and I was used to being in the majority.   This was my experience the entire night-being in the minority. At the community cafe, I was maybe one of 5 non-muslims there.    Yet, despite how hard it was to not always understand what was going on or to understand the meaning of what was being said-I never once felt unwelcome or entirely out of place.   Hind-one of my co-workers from IFYC-patiently explained to me what was being said and who people were.  When I didn't understand parts of the dinner conversation, one of them would stop and explain.     Even in the moments I didn't completely understand, to sit and listen was a learning experience in world affairs and what is happening in our world, continuing to crack my shell a little more each time.  

The community cafe itself was a wonderful experience.   There were several artists who did hip-hop and spoken word pieces.  The night was dedicated to Malcolm X so each piece spoke to the message that Malcolm X brought about the fight for human rights.  As somebody who has never been a part of the hip-hop scene, it was a new experience and it took me a while to get used to the mode of communication but once I did I began hearing a message not that different from the one I am used to hearing on Sunday morning, just spoken in a slightly different language.   

The entire experience was also a humbling one.   Reminding me that I have a lot to learn and to understand.    It was also a reminder that I have people surrounding me willing to engage in conversation and answer my questions.   

Song of the Heart

You have to find your heart song all by yourself

You might make a different song, yes that's right it's true
That don't make anybody more or less as good as  you

And wave a flag because everybody plays a part
One world united singing this song of the heart

* Song of the Heart ~Happy Feet.  

One of the joys of my internship is that while I sit doing my research I get to listen to music.  Today, as you might have guessed by the two opening quotes, I listened to to Happy Feet.   In case you haven't seen it, this is a movie about a young peguin named Mumble, who discovers that he expresses his heart song is not a vocal one but rather through dance.  Because this is different from how the other peguins thing he should express his heart song, he is shunned from his community.   The community ends up embracing Mumble because it is only through his unique gift that the community recieves the assistance from humans that they need. 

So, I know what you are thinking-"Alma, what does a movie about dancing peguins have to do with your internship and interfaith work?"   Yes, I know it seems a bit out there but hear me out.    

In Happy Feet, Mumble is shunned because he has a different way of expressing his heart song. Your heart song is "the voice you hear inside, who you truly are."   I think in many ways our faith is equivalent to the idea of a heart song.   When we listen to the voice that we hear inside, calling us to be who we truly are, we are called into a community of shared values of love, compassion and hospitality.  

Yet, as we discover in Happy Feet, sometimes people have different ways of expressing their heart song.  Often, we are quick to dismiss them as strange, weird and, in many cases, just plain WRONG.   But it is only because Mumble is unique in his expression that the community is saved.  

The opening quote is from a song called Heart Song (you can listen here-the video is Oliver and Company, not Happy Feet.)  reminds us that our differences do not makes us any better or any lesser.  Rather when we allow each person to share their song how they are truly meant to share it, it results in "one world united singing this song of the heart." 

So today, I encourage you to play your part and sing your heart song.  But, more importantly, I encourage you to listen to others heart songs to hear the ways that they work together as a part of the larger heart song of the world.   

Earthquakes and Eboo

Hey all!  

So in some interesting news, we had an earthquake in Chicago on early Wednesday morning at about 4:00.    It was only a small one but I woke up for it and remember thinking my room was moving; however, I shook it off as a dream.  I didn't find out it was an earthquake until I was at IFYC and my supervisor asked me if I had heard about it.    

In other exciting news.  I got to meet Eboo Patel today, which I had hoped would happen eventually. It was still really g to actually get to introduce myself and get to shake his hand! He is a man I admire greatly for all the work he has done for something he is passionate about.  I know most of you Luther-ites know of him, and hopefully went to the Opening convocation to hear him speak this fall.  For those of you not from Luther or don't know much about Eboo, first know that you should read his book, Acts of Faith.  Second, even if you are from Luther and did go to Convocation but especially if you didn't, you should listen to his message, you can download it from iTunes U (I can't find a link right now but when my internet is being better behaved I will try to get one posted.)  

His message of acceptance of all, is one that I don't think we hear often enough. More often than not religion is painted as a dividing force rather than a uniting cause.   In this acceptance, Eboo, and IFYC, believe that accepting others in their beliefs does not mean we leave ours at the door.  Instead it means finding the shared values that exist in our beliefs-compassion, service, justice,  hospitality and charity.   Rather than focus on defining right and wrong, the focus becomes defining and sharing personal experience. In this sharing of beliefs and stories, I don't believe we lose any bit of our faith.  No, I believe that being open to hearing other's views and other's stories and in return being willing to share ours,  is the only way to strengthen our believes.  This is what IFYC stands for.  This is the work I get to participate in this semester.  And 50 years from now, when we look back on the Interfaith movement like, we now look back on the Civil Rights movement, I will be able to say:  "I was a part of that."

Day one!

I have successfully completed my first day at IFYC!  Hooray!!  It was a really a great day just getting acquainted with the office and the people.  I recieved an incredibly warm welcome, which made me feel like I belonged there.   We started out the morning with a staff meeting where I was introduced to everybody and heard their reports about the work they are doing.    One of my favorite stories from the meeting was one of the staff who was on a campus visit where Westboro Baptist was protesting something and one of the Fellows-essentially a college intern for IFYC on a college campus instead of in Chicago-organized a campus response to Westboro's presence.   Six people from Westboro showed up, 1,000 college students from all varieties came together to sing and dance and join together in community.  This was all located in front of one the dorms and at one point a young man came out of the dorm to figure out what was going on, looked around, went back in his dorm and came back out a bit later with his bagpipes playing Amazing Grace.  The student body part to accept this young man into its circle and continued dancing and singing to bagpipes Amazing Grace.  When I can access my IFYC e-mail from home I will post a link to the story as written by one of the student organizers of the response.   To me this was an amazing testament of the power that interfaith work and dialogue can have.  Our meeting was filled with testaments to the work of IFYC in a variety of campuses and cities, with even some mention of the work that is happening on the Luther campus!  (GO NORSE!!!!)   

After the staff meeting, I was given a tour of the office and more formally introduced to a lot of the staff, it was a lot of names in a short amount of time but again I was greeted warmly by everybody.   I then spent the afternoon being introduced to the intiative I will be working directly with and some of the staff who are working with it.  It is a complex intertwining of a variety of elements that I am still trying to figure out.  It is called One Chicago, One Nation (OCON)  and it is aiming to encourage interfaith participation in a variety of ways, including a film contest.   As I heard about all that was happening, it made me wish I could be here this summer to see everything come together and hope to find a way to make it back for some of the bigger events this summer!   

The other big success story of the day was that I made it to and from my placement with no incidents and no getting lost! YAY!!!!

The rest of orientation

she's prepared for almost any transportation mishap, as long as none of them require her to just sit still & think (StoryPeople)

Yep, that basically sums up my experience with the CTA(chicago transit authority) on Thursday. Three of us went out to find each of our placements for the semester.   Things started out great. We found the first placement easily and got to the bus stop fine.  From there we got on train, to realize we were headed in the wrong direction, easily fixed, off the train at the next stop and on to the one going in the right direction.   We made it to lunch and the next placement fine.  Then struggle bus-ed finding our bus (hehe) so opted for the train instead.  Made it to my placement just fine, then back on the train to head to downtown to catch our bus home only to wander in the wrong direction for a solid chunk of time, got ourselves headed in the right direction, found our bus.  Got our bus.  Home free, right?   Wrong!   Made it to the next bus stop only to have our bus break down!! So we sat on the bus for a while until the bus driver told us to all get off and wait for a new bus.  Trying to cram a full bus on to a full bus...yea that was fun.  So we waited for the next bus crammed in and finally made it home!   It was a great adventure, which could have actually gone a lot worse.  I feel a lot more comfortable with the CTA after the amount of time we spend navigating it.  However, I have a lot to figure out but I can't wait for more adventures!!!

It was great to finally get to see the office were my placement is.  I felt incredibly welcome, which has made me even more excited to get started.   I will start right at 9:00 with a staff meeting and a chance to meet all/most of the staff.  

Friday we went to Pilsen which is the Latino section of Chicago to have a tour of the murals.  They were exquisite, as soon as I figure out pictures, I will post so you can see.   Each mural had some significance in the community with members in them.   Some of them were a statement for immigration reform, some spoke to the culture of the area, some shared history but there was incredible details in each on.   

Saturday we got a tour of South Side with Arvis, who does not sugarcoat anything.   We spent four hours in the van, seeing most of the South Side.  One thing I was struck by was the placement of extreme wealth next to poverty.  For me it called to mind some graffiti art we saw in New Orleans that said "wealth in the face of poverty is an assualt on our humanity."     The highly evident distinctions in class brought this quote into a new light for me.   It was also interesting to see the distance that had been placed between the poorest neighborhood and the rest of the city.  This neighboorhood is totally disconnected from Chicago and it seems like you are driving into a new town almost. 

And finally for today, if you stuck with me this long-Thanks- if you are skimming-good for you!.  This morning I finally got to for a run which was a good chance to see a larger part of the neighboorhood.  Then we went to a play called "The Island" which was based on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner for 27 years.  It was simply two prisoners on the island working to put on Antigone.  Despite the seeming simplicity of the plot, it spoke to the suffering and peservance of the people.   

Ok, Thanks for reading.  Someday I promise pictures!  

Love to you all and please keep me up-to-date on your lives!!!

Just a small town girl

The first three days of orientation have been fairly exhausting.  On Monday we all moved into our aparment, which is huge.   There are 7 of us living in a building called the Boulevard which is in Hyde Park.   After getting mostly settled into the apartment we headed to the Chicago Center for a brief orientation and introduction to the staff, then supper at a great pizza place and the we went Ice Skating.

 Yesterday we did walking excursions with a partner which helped us to get more acquainted with certain portions of Hyde Park.  It was really interesting to get a chance to interact with some of the people and the organizations and businesses of the area.   Last night we had our first seminar with Arvis which is something I am really looking forward to.  Arvis has an incredibly amount of life history to share and he is not afraid to address a situation as it really is while still having a sense of humor.    Today we did a walking tour of some of the downtown district and went to the Chicago Board of Trade this morning.  For those of you have played the card came of Pit, it makes much more sense after seeing the opening of the market and watching an actually trading Pit.   I wish I could share pictures with you but unfortunately cameras were not allowed.    After the Chicago Board of Trade we wandered around with Scott, one of the Chicago Center staff, to look at the architure of the downtown district.   After living in a semi-rural area for most of my life, being around all of the tall buildings was a bit overwhelming and at the same time really impressive.  The attention to detail and decoration that went into the outside of some the older buildings is impressive.   After downtown we went to the Chicago Art Institute.  We only had a short time so I mostly wandered around aimlessly looking at things.  

It was interesting to look at some of the older displays of things that were never intended to be in a case in a musuem but rather were made to be used in some way.  Living in a era when everything is seemingly disposable, it is thought-provoking to see the attention to detail that people once payed when making simple things like plates and water jugs. Even the items that were made for a variety of religious practices had meaning or served a puropse.   I also had a chance to wander through the Indian and African art display.  This was intriguing because once again these were things that were never intended to be on display but rather served a purpose, practical or ceremonial, and yet much of the purpose and meaning behind the things that we now call "art" is more or less lost.   There is part of me that wonders in a couple of centuries, when future generations look back, what they will look at as these things in musuem. What are the things in our world today that have these meaning and purposes?  Is it cell phones and iPods or will there be something that holds a deeper meaning that will be left behind by my generation?