Feeling It...Called

Here is my LENGTH caution :-)


So on Sunday, sitting in my lovely church service, I was impressed by the guest preacher, although he did make me wiggle in my seat. It was one of those sermons....the ones where they tell you all about the reluctant prophets....and then they remind you...that we are all reluctant prophets. That there is something each one of us, regardless of your religious/spiritual/philosophical persuasion, can do here on this planet in order to benefit this planet, these people, and to ease the existence that we all have here together. You could call it a "calling," a "purpose," a reason for existence. And then the wiggling increased, when this guest preacher asked us to actually go out and DO something about our faith...to actually demonstrate God's love and the love that we are to feel toward each other. (Picture here: actual sign ups in the front of the church for the missions that the church is involved in, an offering basket, and a miscellaneous sign up for new project ideas...and all of this in a Presbyterian church which is not known for it's...um....evanglicalness).

So needless to say, I've been thinking....about what I'm actually passionate about, where I feel I can make a larger difference, ways I could get involved to actually "minister" via my actions to others. I'm not one to completely talk about my faith and religious beliefs, but I do feel convicted that I am to live a life that openly gives to others and of myself as a demonstration of those beliefs. And so here I was sitting in the pew, and realizing that really I could and should do more. (Technically during the service, I was compelled to go volunteer in India, but how that will play out and when I'm not sure).

Anyway...insert tangent here...that eventually will get back to the point, I promise. So over the last few months I've also been thinking about how inept I am at spouting off great stats from the top of my head about important studies and links related to what I study. How am I supposed to educate people on the facts of environmental issues and health concerns if I can't remember the minute details to back up my claims? (We are in the midst of evidence based everything after all!) So cut to Sunday afternoon, when two dudes tried to pick me up outside a coffee shop and instead were debated with about gentrification in Portland and the still existent racial/SES/ethnic barriers that exist in the city. In the midst of my educating these individuals I was able to pull all sorts of dates out of my head to back up my claims (and no, I'm not calling them). How interesting that in one subject matter I can readily provide what I need and in another I struggle...

Zoom back to the present. So this morning I check my one list serv and there is an announcement of a film showing and discussion going on this evening on the topic of immigrant day laborers. Now one of my original excitements about moving back to Portland, was that I envisioned myself being more involved in the city and going to more forums, events, etc. Until this evening that vision had not been realized. So I go...and I'm blown away and connected and involved in this incredible discussion with other like minded individuals. I see, via the film, the discrimination placed upon Latino day laborers. I hear the story of a Jamaican individual in the crowd talking about getting spit on this week by a woman in his taxi and told to "return to his own country." I am surrounded by people who get that "we're all human" and that we happen to live in this nation only by luck of being born here. I meet individuals who work with immigrants and refugees...and truly just like a flower something starts to blossom inside of me again.

So I've come home...and now I'm processing via this posting. I'm not sure yet what direction I'll go in with this, but it's something. I feel that file re-opening and the cause striking a chord within me...the same cause that I studied and surrounded myself with as an undergraduate. The same cause that originally led me on this path of simplicity. The same cause that I wish more individuals would feel and understand. Some call it human connection, some call it brotherly love, some call it social justice. My job is to spread it...in whatever manner I can.

...and for better or worse, I've decided to start with my siblings' children. :-) This year instead of giving presents, I've just emailed out a challenge....for each individual or family subgroup to instead discover an individual/organization/cause that they want me to give to in their name. While the kids range in age from 8 to 15, I feel that they can do this and that they can truly give of themselves this way in order to improve the world in which we all live. Whether they want me to buy food or sleeping bags to hand out personally to the homeless, sponsor a child their age from a giving tree, or donate money to an organization...the choice is theirs and I hope will reflect their interests. Maybe this is me inflicting my own philosophy onto them...but to me...this is the real meaning of the season anyway. For the meaning of Christmas comes from the birth of Christ and His message to the world was to love God and to love our fellow brothers and sisters.

And with that I've come full circle. Thanks for joining me on this rambling of callings, religious insight, social justice causes, and maybe a little humor. Hope you all are having very blessed evenings!