two-one:
Snow is a most likely birthday gift for me & all other early February babies. We had a surprise blizzard around this time last year, and today brings another huge batch of fluffy white snow. What the snowman learned about love indeed!
So. I am twenty-one.
Thanks to everyone who stuck around/came back when I arrived late to my own birthday shindig (*embarrassment*). Thanks for the mango pudding, apples & caramel cream cheese brown sugar dip, lemon glaze cupcakes, roses(!), lantern, earrings (x2!), cards, & (highlyhighly embarrassing) song. Presence is such a wonderful present. ♥!
Anyhow, I'd rather not talk about me. There are a lot more interesting things to talk about.
I don't think we have to look very far to see suffering. I think suffering is defined in the everyday sort of sense, where the suffering we witness or see as those who aren't suffering alongside is merely a moment or a slice of the actual suffering. As I was walking back from the bus station today, I was head-down, trudging through the mountains of snow, already browning & packed from multitudes of feet tramping & trampling down the sidewalks as snow continued to fall from the sky. it's a common sight to see students & residents alike avoiding sidewalks that haven't been shoveled & invading the usually more cleared roads. as i was crossing, i turned my head & noticed a man pushing his wife (presumably) in a wheelchair down brock street, forced off the sidewalk because the path wasn't cleared of snow. and in that moment, i just caught a glimpse of a mere moment of their struggle, as an outsider & giver of my split-second attention & pity.
I attended 2 talks today. The first one was by a 5th year development studies & English major & former CFRC volunteer -- less about his work/study placement in Johannesburg, South Africa with JournAIDS, and more about Mbeki's AIDS dissendence, Jacob Zuma, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (of this insanity), media coverage of South African governance & HIV/AIDS, and press freedom. He used editorial cartoons by Zapiro, whom I think is brilliant, to guide his informal talk, which I also think was brilliant & engaging.
What struck me the most was the way in which all the information just tumbled from his lips about the complex nature surrounding both the media coverage and HIV/AIDS, underscored by the governance of South Africa. He had no answers, and I felt the complexity and helpless nature that culminated at the end of the talk. I kept thinking that, in a place like South Africa, how not knowing God & the hope & joy & purpose that comes from knowing Him would easily lead to an attitude of fatalism. Living in the country with the highest number of HIV infections and led by an AIDS dissident would definitely overcome anyone after hearing the deluge of denialism & government dissidence.
The second talk was held by the DEVS DSC as part of International Development Week, a panel discussion on the ethics of studying & working abroad. (And the reason I was the "surprise" to my own birthday thing.) Many issues were brought up & discussed & it was a pretty good forum for thought & opinion & questions & critiques. There are so many implications & applications of working or volunteering as a young, privileged Canadian in any environment where disparity exists, even within our own city.
It's important to think about how we are everyday ambassadors of not only our culture & social norms, but also our God & His image that He has created us in.
I think all of today was part of God's conversation to me. Because here I am, blogging about this, instead of studying for my midterm which is on Monday at 8:30am, and which I won't be able to study for this weekend since I'm going to KCCF's winter retreat. I am quite the screwed in terms of biochemical regulatory mechanisms.
So. I am twenty-one.
Thanks to everyone who stuck around/came back when I arrived late to my own birthday shindig (*embarrassment*). Thanks for the mango pudding, apples & caramel cream cheese brown sugar dip, lemon glaze cupcakes, roses(!), lantern, earrings (x2!), cards, & (highlyhighly embarrassing) song. Presence is such a wonderful present. ♥!
Anyhow, I'd rather not talk about me. There are a lot more interesting things to talk about.
I don't think we have to look very far to see suffering. I think suffering is defined in the everyday sort of sense, where the suffering we witness or see as those who aren't suffering alongside is merely a moment or a slice of the actual suffering. As I was walking back from the bus station today, I was head-down, trudging through the mountains of snow, already browning & packed from multitudes of feet tramping & trampling down the sidewalks as snow continued to fall from the sky. it's a common sight to see students & residents alike avoiding sidewalks that haven't been shoveled & invading the usually more cleared roads. as i was crossing, i turned my head & noticed a man pushing his wife (presumably) in a wheelchair down brock street, forced off the sidewalk because the path wasn't cleared of snow. and in that moment, i just caught a glimpse of a mere moment of their struggle, as an outsider & giver of my split-second attention & pity.
I attended 2 talks today. The first one was by a 5th year development studies & English major & former CFRC volunteer -- less about his work/study placement in Johannesburg, South Africa with JournAIDS, and more about Mbeki's AIDS dissendence, Jacob Zuma, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (of this insanity), media coverage of South African governance & HIV/AIDS, and press freedom. He used editorial cartoons by Zapiro, whom I think is brilliant, to guide his informal talk, which I also think was brilliant & engaging.
What struck me the most was the way in which all the information just tumbled from his lips about the complex nature surrounding both the media coverage and HIV/AIDS, underscored by the governance of South Africa. He had no answers, and I felt the complexity and helpless nature that culminated at the end of the talk. I kept thinking that, in a place like South Africa, how not knowing God & the hope & joy & purpose that comes from knowing Him would easily lead to an attitude of fatalism. Living in the country with the highest number of HIV infections and led by an AIDS dissident would definitely overcome anyone after hearing the deluge of denialism & government dissidence.
The second talk was held by the DEVS DSC as part of International Development Week, a panel discussion on the ethics of studying & working abroad. (And the reason I was the "surprise" to my own birthday thing.) Many issues were brought up & discussed & it was a pretty good forum for thought & opinion & questions & critiques. There are so many implications & applications of working or volunteering as a young, privileged Canadian in any environment where disparity exists, even within our own city.
It's important to think about how we are everyday ambassadors of not only our culture & social norms, but also our God & His image that He has created us in.
I think all of today was part of God's conversation to me. Because here I am, blogging about this, instead of studying for my midterm which is on Monday at 8:30am, and which I won't be able to study for this weekend since I'm going to KCCF's winter retreat. I am quite the screwed in terms of biochemical regulatory mechanisms.