Pay It Forward

How would our world change if this actually happened?

a poem

A dear friend wrote this for me about stuff that I was going through last semester. I wanted to share it with you because it really spoke to me.


Looking for the right angle, focal length, and composition
For the sentence I shoot,
Erase
And shoot again.

There's something wrong about the eyes--
They gleam too brightly
The hair isn't quite black enough,
And rigid, and fair.

But a picture can't feel
a spoken word can't relate
a poem can't explain
Anything.

Only hearts can feel, and
Ears
And arms that hold you.
Arms are open to enfold you
And thus release you.

Korean New Year

Happy Korean Lunar New Year!!!

May you stay healthy and be well.

May you prosper in the year ahead.

Ok, I'm done sounding like a fortune cookie. However, I do truly wish these things for you. In the coming year, I believe you can achieve your goals or at least take another step closer to achieving them. I'm currently reading The Greatest Salesman in the World by og mandino. It contains truths which could be applied to any goal, not just being a great salesman. The first pearl of wisdom or the one I am clinging to at the moment is "Form good habits and become their slave." I'm realizing that some habits I've acquired aren't conducive to the goals and dreams I want to achieve. Now it's time to start anew and do things differently in my life. Here's to a new start (raises imaginary glass and takes a drink).

Lent

40 Days Toward Justice--A Time to Observe Lent

Lent is a 40-day period of spiritual cleansing and preparation that culminates in the celebration of the resurrection of Christ at Easter. Many choose to fast from something to help engage the spiritual cleansing. It is important, however, to remember that Lent is not a time of deprivation but of enhancement. We make room in our lives for a deeper relationship to God.

This Lent season, Acting on AIDS is launching 40 Days Toward Justice. This is a time for you and your fellow Acting on AIDS leaders to focus on the justice of God and the role he invites each of us to play. We invite you to use this resource to enhance your observation of Lent. If you've never before observed Lent, consider doing so this year.

40 Days Toward Justice will include a series of scripture readings and a variety of writings from experts at World Vision, InterVarsity, Sojourners and Saddleback Church. We hope this is a resource that will help you and your Acting on AIDS community to enhance your understanding of God's heart for justice and empower you to respond.

freecycle network

As I was reading Justice in the Burbs by Will & Lisa Swanson, they list resources and organizations near the end of the book. It's a great read by the way. One of the resources listed in the freecycle network. It is a

network made up of 4,233 groups with 4,415,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people).

Check it out!

a quote

Sometimes we have a tendency to view justice as something we want to do, but it's something we will get to when we have time. The church, the gospel, and the future of our nation depend on how we choose to live. -Will & Lisa Samson, Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live

a justice creed

We believe that God is just and that God loves justice.
God delights in just laws and rejoiced in just people.
God liberates those who are oppressed by injustice
And is grieved by unjust people and the unjust systems
they create and sustain.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
And God's kingdom belongs to those willing to be
persecuted for the sake of justice.
To God, justice is a weighty thing that can never be ignored.
We believe that Jesus came to display the justice of God,
In word and deed, in life, death, and resurrection.
The justice God desires, which he taught, must
surpass that of the hypocrites,
For the justice of God is a compassionate justice,
Rich in mercy and abounding in love for the last, the least,
the lost, and the excluded.
On his cross, Jesus drew the injustice of humanity into the light,
And there the heartless injustice of human empire met
The reconciling justice of the kingdom of God.
The resurrection of Jesus proclaims that the true justice of God,
Naked, vulnerable, and scarred by abuse, is stronger
Than the violent injustice of humanity, armed with weapons,
conceit, deceit, and lies.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is here now,
Convicting the world of sin and injustice,
Warning that God's judgment will come on all that is unjust.
We believe that the kingdom of God is not a matter of
superficial things
But is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Empowered by the Spirit, then, we seek God's kingdom and
we seek God's justice,
For the world as it is has not yet become the world as
God desires it to be.
And so we live and work and pray,
Until justice rolls down like water,
Until justice flows like a never-ending stream.
For we believe that God is just, and the true and living
God loves justice.
Amen.

MLK, Jr.

Here's to you Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you for making a difference. Thank you for giving a dream to all minorities... "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

outrage!!

Does this headline outrage you or are you indifferent?

What if this headline was about you? Or someone you knew?


Rape accusations on Campus X

Police are investigating a possible rape on Campus X.

Police tell us the incident happened around 1:00 a.m.

The college-age victim, who is not a student, told police she attended a house party there, and was drunk when four men raped her. She then allegedly asked an acquaintance to take her to another nearby location, where she was attacked again by two of the four men.

The home is just across the street from and owned by Campus X, which is a dry campus.

“Campus X is an alcohol-free campus. The homes that we own are alcohol-free. If there was alcohol involved that violates our policy and we will be able to address that ourselves if that is indeed the case,” Campus X Director of Communications says.

Campus X will not address the accusations of rape themselves. The police department’s special victim’s unit has taken over the investigation.

Campus X has sent out an e-mail to all students, faculty and staff letting them know about the incident.

outside

It was a beautiful night last night, and please don't believe those who would say otherwise. I was given the opportunity to sleep under the stars, although I don't know if there were any. You see, I was sleeping in a shadow to avoid getting caught by campus safety.

Simple Living is beginning this new semester with a bang and some action. A group of seven students is embarking on a trip toward empathy with the homeless. This includes sleeping outside, having to ask for meals, going without personal items that won't fit into a single backpack, all while still being an active college student. It will be an interesting week which will conclude by visiting and potentially volunteering at the local Center for the Homeless.

More thoughts will come later. May the peace of the creator be with you this week.