Mid-Semester Report - Report #1
I have a minute to breathe this morning before I move on to my homework and I wanted to create this mid-semester report. I think I can characterize this as one of the most incredible experiences of my adult life. To be able to sit and think, talk and write about the things I am pondering is amazing. Aside from forming a deeper understanding of the political and social issues that I went to school to eventually address, I am learning about the common nature of the mysteries that we all face while we walk (or sometimes sleep or run) through life on this planet. It is extremely challenging and so far, unbelievably interesting.
But there is so much more to it. I am meeting people who have already and will continue to have a substantial impact on my life. They are from very different backgrounds and bring a wealth of knowledge, love and experience to my education. Growing up in a fairly multi-cultural hamlet of Evanston, I am so thankful that I already knew people of different skin tones and faith traditions. Looking back on my youth, I see how that has influenced me and continues to do so everyday. So a little shout out for the hometown.
As a Jewish, humanist, agnostic, Unitarian Universalist Midwesterner, the whole God thing is something that I have struggled with through the years, but now I am studying and thinking about it and school is providing me with some new frameworks. One of those came from my new friend Paula who said that you don’t fall in love, you step up to it. I love that image even more because in a discussion in class the other day we talked about how there is a level of God that is always present, that sometimes we reach and sometimes we don’t. From my filter I look at it this way, there is a place of love, clarity, understanding and moments of joy that sometimes we can climb the ladder and reach. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does we know it. It leads to a tingly sort of feeling. I had two of those moments the other day. Imagine, two in one day.
The first was at a meeting of “Seminarians for Social Justice.” This is a group of idealistic mostly young people trying to mix their spiritual need for justice with the available academic setting for thought and discussion. Sitting in this meeting I realized that this was the kind of discussion I had always longed for in nonprofit work. This was a discussion on how to inform, learn and act on ways to create justice in the world. I know a lot of people who try to do this on a daily basis and I honor them for that, but for me, although I have taken many paths, sitting there at that moment, on a plastic chair, eating a piece of chicken and potato salad, it seemed as meaningful to me as almost any nonprofit work I have done over the last 20 years. Thinking about all the work I have done to get to this point, it felt just right.
The other moment was later that same day when under the stars out on campus, I had a chance to have a beer, play some music and beat my drum (literally). It was a poetic moment. It brought the joy of a new experience with new friends that reminded me of many old experiences with old friends. It was an experience I think many of us move on from at some point and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I haven’t. I have tried to increase these in the last couple of years and I’ve got to tell you, they are good for the soul.
The openness I now feel to new people, new ideas and other ways of thinking is amazing. As my new friend Reggie might say, I may not be as open to some ideas as I think, but at least I am thinking and talking and feeling things that are making me grow and feel very alive. I also am developing a deeper understanding of the troubles that face this country. So many of them come from the divide created by our religious and cultural history. I will, as I feel most of my classmates will, work over the years to come to bring justice to the world. They will go off to their little corners and do the best they can and I am sure that our years here together will influence their sermons and actions.
I am halfway through this first semester. I am behind on my reading, I have written two papers and a test and at this point have no idea about my grades, I have put thousands of miles on my car, and I have just begun a journey that will change my life forever.
But there is so much more to it. I am meeting people who have already and will continue to have a substantial impact on my life. They are from very different backgrounds and bring a wealth of knowledge, love and experience to my education. Growing up in a fairly multi-cultural hamlet of Evanston, I am so thankful that I already knew people of different skin tones and faith traditions. Looking back on my youth, I see how that has influenced me and continues to do so everyday. So a little shout out for the hometown.
As a Jewish, humanist, agnostic, Unitarian Universalist Midwesterner, the whole God thing is something that I have struggled with through the years, but now I am studying and thinking about it and school is providing me with some new frameworks. One of those came from my new friend Paula who said that you don’t fall in love, you step up to it. I love that image even more because in a discussion in class the other day we talked about how there is a level of God that is always present, that sometimes we reach and sometimes we don’t. From my filter I look at it this way, there is a place of love, clarity, understanding and moments of joy that sometimes we can climb the ladder and reach. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does we know it. It leads to a tingly sort of feeling. I had two of those moments the other day. Imagine, two in one day.
The first was at a meeting of “Seminarians for Social Justice.” This is a group of idealistic mostly young people trying to mix their spiritual need for justice with the available academic setting for thought and discussion. Sitting in this meeting I realized that this was the kind of discussion I had always longed for in nonprofit work. This was a discussion on how to inform, learn and act on ways to create justice in the world. I know a lot of people who try to do this on a daily basis and I honor them for that, but for me, although I have taken many paths, sitting there at that moment, on a plastic chair, eating a piece of chicken and potato salad, it seemed as meaningful to me as almost any nonprofit work I have done over the last 20 years. Thinking about all the work I have done to get to this point, it felt just right.
The other moment was later that same day when under the stars out on campus, I had a chance to have a beer, play some music and beat my drum (literally). It was a poetic moment. It brought the joy of a new experience with new friends that reminded me of many old experiences with old friends. It was an experience I think many of us move on from at some point and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I haven’t. I have tried to increase these in the last couple of years and I’ve got to tell you, they are good for the soul.
The openness I now feel to new people, new ideas and other ways of thinking is amazing. As my new friend Reggie might say, I may not be as open to some ideas as I think, but at least I am thinking and talking and feeling things that are making me grow and feel very alive. I also am developing a deeper understanding of the troubles that face this country. So many of them come from the divide created by our religious and cultural history. I will, as I feel most of my classmates will, work over the years to come to bring justice to the world. They will go off to their little corners and do the best they can and I am sure that our years here together will influence their sermons and actions.
I am halfway through this first semester. I am behind on my reading, I have written two papers and a test and at this point have no idea about my grades, I have put thousands of miles on my car, and I have just begun a journey that will change my life forever.
posted by change2008 at 10:18 AM
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