Fire! Nope, never mind-just a malfunctioning smoke dector

The gut-retching sound pierced the air of our house, resembling a squawking and squeeling siren. As I gathered my wits about me, I realized that the sound was our lovely smoke detector. Out of sheer habitat, I grabbed keys, shoes and phone running to check the alarm to attempt to shut it off before running outside.

At this point there are two facts that will help explain this story. The first is that I currently live about a block from a hospital. The second is that our house is technically a part of the hospital’s property. This also means that our alarm is routed through the hospital.

So as the loud squawking siren is continuing to blare in our house, I run to the hospital to let them know our alarm is going off. One of the security guys comes back over with me, while radioing to his counterparts in the hospital. He goes running into the house. Shortly after, we hear sirens coming towards our house five fire trucks worth of sirens. Turns out those sirens for us.

Except rather than coming to our house, the trucks headed directly for the hospital. Security headed out to sort that out. Mind you, we now have our fire alarm and the fire trucks siren going off in a seeming competition to be the loudest.

Once the firemen figured out where they actually need to be, 4 of the 5 trucks headed home and the three in the other truck jumped out in full gear to investigate our clearly not on fire house.

Once they cleared there were some questions about what we had been doing prior to the alarm going off. There seemed to be no good reason for it to go off and everything was ok.

So everybody headed their separate ways and my roomies and I headed into the house to go to sleep. And that was our adventures of Tuesday night.

Everything's Changing

Just because every thing's changing

Doesn't mean it's never been this way before

All you can do is try to know

Who your friends are as you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon

And follow the light

~The Call (Regina Spektor)

As I sat in my new office, listening to my Regina Spektor/Ingrid Michaelson playlist, I heard these lyrics in a way that I never had before. The year has been a year of everything changing. Since January of this month I have called 5 different zipcodes home-Cresco(52316), Decorah(52101), Chicago(60615), Chautauqua(14722) and finally Jersey City(07360) This has meant 5 different roommates, 5 different bosses, 5 different eating situations, 5 different grocery stores, 5 different dress codes, 5 different faith communities and so on.

Yet, as I find everything changing, I find that things have been this way before. This is not to say that this has been an easy process, these 8 months of change have been challenging and tiring. There are days where I struggle to remember where I am, what I am doing and which organization I am working for.

However, in all of this, I am learning to find consistency in change, order in the chaos, stability in fluidity and comfort in the unknown. I find comfort in knowing that I have successfully navigate all of these changes before. Despite, some of my frustrations at the beginnings of each of these transitions, I have found a home in each one of these places and a community to love and to hold dear.

In that, I trust that while everything is changing, it has been this way before and I will find my place in this new community. I will find home and community here that I will love as much as the previous 4 homes. In this process, I will create many new memories that, when it comes time to transition again, will make it hard to leave.

Watch all of The Call here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpfTfixjk4A

Summer Blog

How was your summer?

What exactly was your job?

What did you do this summer?

These questions are challenging to answer, to say the least. If you are looking for a short answer, my summer was great! My job was do to interfaith programming. This summer I did a lot of random things and I had a lot of fun.

Yet these answers do not seem sufficient. My summer was challenging, comforting, draining, revitalizing, strange, familiar, growth provoking, soul searching, live giving, joy providing, intense, relaxing, and so much more that I can’t put in to words. In some ways, it was essentially Lutheran in all the paradoxes it offered.

It is still challenging to put into words what my job was. Yes, I was responsible for doing interfaith programming for young adults, but it was also much more than that. I was responsible for being present with people. To hear their stories, to share mine, to answer questions, in many ways to simply BE. I didn’t have a daily routine and I certainly didn’t have a 9-5 job but there was always plenty to do, never a dull moment.

As for what I did this summer, there was so much. And unfortunately, because I was remiss in my blogging this summer, I don’t have the space to share all of my adventures but the following is a good summary of all that I did and learned.

*Got Alan Alda’s autograph

* Meet people I admire like Jim Wallis, Otis Moss, Daisy Khan, Imam Feisal, Karen Armstrong, and so many many more

*Meet more people to continue to admire

*Learned that I will forever be able to find a home at the pool and a family among the regular swimmers

* Discovered the value of forming new friendships and the importance of maintaining distance ones

*Made new friends who have changed me for the better and will be lifelong friends

*Participated in the serving of the Eucharist to a congregation of 4,000

*Was challenged to continue to grow in my faith

*Heard a lot of fantastic lectures

*Heard some not so fantastic lectures

*Saw amazing symphony concerts, ballet performances and opera showcases

*Played epic games of UNO and Pit

*Helped organize and host the first Abrahamic Program for Young Adults Iftar meal for the breaking of the fast during Ramadan

*Learned the importance of speaking out and standing up

*Helped plan an interfaith worship service and delivered a 4 minute message to the congregation of over 2,000.

* Learned the power of small actions

* Experienced genuine hospitality and genuine hostility

*Saw Gretchen Wilson, Clay Aiken/Rubben Studdard, Jersey Boys, Oakridge Boys and the ABBA tribute band in concert

*Discovered the amazing-ness of Andriaccio’s white sauce pizza

*Ate a lot of and got sick of Andriaccio’s white sauce pizza

*Made a community for myself

*Ate more walmart frosted cookies than should be allowed

*Gave up pop, soda, coke-or whatever you call that carbonated beverage

*Continued to discover the power of my own story

*Stood in awe of the stories of those who I encountered

*Learned to drive a golf cart

*Struggled, laughed, cried, argued, debated, learned and played

Overall, the summer was simply amazing. It was an unique experience that I will never be able to re-create, nor do I want to try but rather to create a continuation. It was a joy and an honor to be a part of the Chautauqua community and to be accepted as I was. I formed relationships that I will treasure forever. Chautauqua will always hold a dear place in my heart as home.

Ramadan Reflections

Happy Eid!

For the past 30 days, I have been observing Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. This is fasting from not only food, but also bad thoughts, actions and habitats.

I observed a modified fasting from food during the day, rather than sun up (about 4:30) to sun down, I tried to have breakfast before 8 or 8:30 and supper after 7:00/7:30. The fasting from the food was the easiest part. After a couple of days, I no longer felt the hunger. There was a pretty reliable headache that came around 5:30.

The more difficult fast was the fast from bad thoughts and actions, especially the thoughts. While I tend to thing of myself as a pretty optimistic person, I began to be aware of the number of times I got frustrated, angry or upset about little things that really should not have bothered me. This has been the biggest struggle and something I hope to continue to be aware of even as this month ends.

The other thing that made this month particularly interesting was the realization of how much our life revolves around food. Being in a new place and new job I have found this particularly true in regards to demonstrating hospitality. Every time we would go to a new place, people offer to feed you. Our major conversation and end of day happen over a meal. Even our church services revolve around the preparation and eating of a meal.

Observing Ramadan was a wonderful experience for me. While I may have been something that was Ramadan in its roots, I found a deeper level of my Christian faith during these past days. Such a later part of our Christian faith is walking with others along their journey, Not as a superior telling them how to walk, but rather side by side as their brother or sister hearing their story and being with them in that story. That is what the past month has been for me. A journey walking with my brothers and sisters in humanity, trying to understand their deep faith and their spiritual practices and to find some meaning in those practices for myself.

Carried by the wind

If you hold on to the handle, she said, it's easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you.(StoryPeople)

The wind has carried me to Jersey CIty, NJ. During the past week, my fellow interns and myself have commented on the fact that we would have never imagined our lives landing in NJ. However, something in each of our lives have brought us to this place.

During the past week, we have had a lot of adventures together and a lot of laughter. It has been great getting to know the 7 other people who will become my NEWARKACTS family during the coming eleven months.

On Saturday we enjoyed a beautiful day the PRIDE festival in Jersey City waterfront. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was a great first larger scaled PRIDE experience.

Most interesting however were the protestors gathered there and the way people responded to them. Some calmly walked by ignoring the protestors condemning the aspect of themselves they had come together to celebrate. Yet, some stood there screaming back things that were equally vicious.

Despite the protestors, we had wonderful time, then came back to our house for some intense games of UNO and Pit.

Sunday morning I went to worship at one at one of the local Lutheran Churches. It was a small congregation that was incredibly welcoming. After worship, I got a chance to talk with the pastor and council president. During this time I got a lot of background information on Hoboken and Jersey City.

When I got home, the boys (Alex and Richard) and I decided to head to the beach for a part of the afternoon. Once again it was absolutely beautiful. Wonderful to feel the sand between my toes, hear the water on the sand and see people relaxing and having fun.

I am excited to continue the adventures for the next year and am gratefully for the wind carrying me to this place.

Jersey City!

I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream & an angel in black tights came to me & said, you can start any time now, & then I asked is this a sign? & the angel started laughing & I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there's no laughter, I know they're not for me.

(StoryPeople)

Greeting you all from Jersey City! So the past couple of days have been a bit hectic but I have safely arrived in Jersey City and am loving it!

I will spend the next 11 months living with 3 roommates in a 150-year old row house. We are four of 8 interns with NEWARKACTS, the other four are living in a house in Newark.

From my bedroom window I have a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline and can see the Empire State Building. From our parking lot we can see both the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. The past 3 days have been fairly overcast but it is still a gorgeous view. At some point ,once I figure out how to get the screen out of my window, I promise to get pictures and upload them so you can see the beauty for yourself.

Yesterday and today were two of our orientation days. We spend the time getting to know each other, learning about NEWARKACTS, and learning about the Epsicopal Church. During this time we have shared a lot of laughs, which tells me that we are going to have a good year.

I know that it is going to be a challenging year in many ways, being so far from home, working at an afterschool programming, really being on my own for the first time. Yet, the promise of these challenges makes me a bit excited.

I am excited to continue to grow in the ways I have started growing since moving to Chicago.

I hope to be better about updating this blog over the course of the next 11 months to share some of my journey with you. As I share this journey with you, I would love to hear from you, so you should send me an e-mail (gastal01@luther.edu), skype me(alma_adele) or even better send me snail mail (200 Palisades Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07306.).

I am hoping to post a blog in the next couple of days that will wrap up a lot of what my summer was and some of the lessons I learned in the past three months.

In the meantime may you all be blessed in many ways.

I want to be a part of if, NEW YORK NEW YORK

So a month after my last post, and a week of adventuring in Chicago, I have safely made it to New York.   I will be spending the next 10 weeks in Chautauqua, New York which is about 1.5 hours southwest of Buffalo.  And it is BEAUTIFUL!  I have already been on two runs along the lake, just attempting to figure out where I am and also wrap my mind around what this place is and contains.  

I am incredibly excited to finally be here and finally starting to figure Chautauqua out after almost two months of anticipation.  I can't wait to start new adventures and be challenged to grow as I continue on this interfaith journey that started taking off in the fall.