Be Broken

Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart.

Never give up, never lose hope.

Allah says, "The broken ones are my beloved."

Crush your heart. Be broken."

-Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Kheir, aka Nobody, Son of Nobody

Today we had an Americorps Kick-off ceremony in which we listened to speakers and participated in musical arts events, concluding with an oath we all took to uphold our commitment to service this year and beyond. There were close to 1,000 Americorps members there serving throughout the Washington state. Though I feel I'm usually part of larger groups at events, like our church youth group at retreats, high school band at most events, UC in general, etc. But our humble group of 16 paled in comparison to various others such as EarthCorps and City Year. That's ok, I'm quite fond of our group! Anyway, the service bordered ridiculous, as we are mostly 22+ in the room, but there was a certain energy and enthusiasm that was found amongst groups that have bonded over the last 2 months, as we have. Maybe it has something to do with there being a group of poets, artists, and aspiring teachers surrounding our group of "construction workers." Welcome, welcome, everybody welcome. . .

After this event and anticipating our conference this coming week, I wondered how much obligerence and illegal substance was consumed amongst the group. The main focus of most members is to help others, in some capacity, whether to build houses, help children read, aid the development of arts programs, etc. And these things are all important, so important that I can't imagine our American society without thousands of volunteers like Americorps doing the work. And despite all of this, I couldn't help thinking of the larger picture, after all of the service is performed and people can see the fruit of their labor, what it all accomplishes. A lot within the society. The spiritual needs of each individual should not be overlooked though; producing eternal results benefits that person as well as having a rippling effect in others. My conclusion at this point is that they are both important; we must take care of people's physical needs while aiding spiritual growth and development. With the example of Americorps, though it's our "job" right now to aid in the certain ways we signed up for, I think of all of the anti-drug ads slammed at kids, yet people who are examples to them and teaching them engage in such behavior. Being spiritually ground, in Christianity as I've found fit, and mentoring others is a more profound example to children/younger people than can be adequately described because it helps instill something greater in them and seek God's help and guidance rather than the best they can do on their own.

Besides these thoughts on my mind and heart, a book I'm reading about Pakistan is at a part describing the horrors inflicted on internal refugees by an Indian-Pakistani conflict. It was such a blessing these refugees could have tremendous aid, including a newly dug water system, school, and ability to build houses. It made me realize that though it is nice to start careers within the U.S. that we take a liking to or seem interesting, in other areas of the world a job or task is thrown on them, such as the mullah of this displaced village desperately seeking shelter and refuge for his people. (Thinking about this along with grad school and a future thesis, it makes any other project that does not directly aid those in distress seem futile.) As an American, my experience with suffering and hardship is jaded. It's been pointed out to me that this is indeed not my fault, I did not choose my life of relative luxury as refugees have not chosen theirs, but it does allow me the means to learn and help and sympathize in an action-oriented way.

In conclusion, I've been encouraged this week because several fellow Americorps have agreed to do a bean and rice fast with me. Family and friends know about my crazy fruit fasts, intended to cleanse the body, but this one is different. It is one thing to fast from food and know what it feels like to be hungry without satisfaction. This is beneficial and everyone needs to do it to understand the pain and heartbreak of hunger that others endure without the choice. But the rice and beans is intended to sympathize with peoples, especially refugees and others in extreme poverty, who have no choice in what to eat and are nourished by these alone for every meal. Join us if you'd like! We aren't starting until the beginning of November, so you have plenty of time to eat all of your produce if that's an excuse :-)

In lighter news, I held my friend's baby kitten, Toots, yesterday, which was a little bigger than my hand. It was so adorable! It's eyes were proportionally larger than the rest of its face. So cute.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5.3