Lent began this past Wednesday with the symbolic adorning of ashes and traditionally, fasting. I love lent, for a lot of reasons. It is a renewal for my soul, an intentional 40 days of devotion and repentance to our Holy God. It is anticipating the ultimate victory of Christ the cross. I do go to mass on Ash Wednesday. I believe it is a beautiful beginning to this season, and the symbolism is rich in a society where old practices are often replaced with modern technology. Back in Biblical times wood fires were used for cooking and heating, and so ashes were plentiful in homes. If there was a death in the family, or other serious goings on, you wouldn't be as mindful as usual of the ashes and it could easily be on your face. It is said this is how ashes became symbolic of mourning. So there are many references in the Bible to the adorning of ashes during a period of mourning and during fasting. When the ashes are placed on your forehead during the mass, whoever is placing the says to you "Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return." It is reminder that we truly are nothing, that Christ is everything, and sacrificed everything. We can draw close to Him by repenting and sharing in the sacrifice by denying ourselves something, whether it be food or not, to become satisfied by God only and to experience a mourning time.
In my "Lenten Companion" book there are a few prayers in the beginning that are very profound to me, so I would like to share a few here over this season:
For the times that I forget that i need a Savior, and arrogantly rely on myself as if I am sufficient to myself: Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
FOr the times that I trust my sinful attachments more than the Father's love: Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
For the times that I allow my own reactions and opinions to supersede the truth of the Father revealed to me through Christ and his Church, Lord Jesus have mercy on me.
For the times I shun the presence of Christ, whether it be his sacramental presence or his presence through the people he puts in my life, lord Jesus, have mercy on me
For the times I blaspheme by using other human beings as thigns that I can manipulate or use for my own selfish ends, Lord Jesus have mercy on me.
For the times i abuse those things the Father has given me for the building up of his kingdom: Lord Jesus, have mercy on me.
For the times that I justify my sinfulness, Lord Jesus, have mercy on me!
Amen.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I'm an auntie!!!
I am in the hospital with my baby sister, who had her own baby last night. I have been anxiously awaiting the birth of my first niece and she came last night, Monday Feb. 23rd. Hannah was due March 3rd, according to her first ultrasound, but was feeling more uncomfortable this weekend. She also had her membrane stripped last Thursday, so we were expecting a baby sooner than later! Yesterday she went into the hospital to get checked around 12:30, where they had her walk around a bit to see if anything progressed. Since not much happened she was about to go home, but then her water broke! So she stayed and got settled into the room where she would soon deliver her firstborn.
She got Patossin in the later afternoon to help speed things along. That really got her contractions going, and she was requesting an epideral in no time. After that kicked in the pain subsided significantly and she was a lot more comfortable. By around 9:15pm, she was dilated to a 9 and about ready to start pushing. In the presence of her fiance, Efra, me, our mom, and our friend Amber, Hannah begin to push! She was very alert the whole time, and I only had to help her stay awake once. The best part is in between pushing, classic Hannah, requested her phone and proceeded to text in between pushes. She worked like a champ for about an hour and soon a dark, wavy haired beautiful baby girl appeared before us! As soon as that amazing child came out, the emotions were overwhelming and i burst into tears. A healthy, beautiful child that I can call my niece and help to raise and love just appeared into the world after 9 long months. My little, baby sister created a life and worked as hard as she ever had in her whole life to bring her into the world! I was flooded with feelings of love for this new life, proud of my sister, excited to see what God has for this new child.
She was born at 10:58pm, 7.59lbs, 20inches long. Her name is Aleeya Lily Osorio. Her name means "exalted" and "sublime", and Hannah really wanted a flower for the middle name. My prayer is that our Lord will lift her high, that her life will be exalted and she will live powerfully for Him. I pray her life will be an example for others, and God will exalt her and hold her close.
Now for pictures! I am going to be a little obsessed with picture taking...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Dr. Perkins
Last week I had the privilege of hearing Dr. John Perkins speak on two occasions. I just finished one of his books, "Let Justice Roll Down", and I have heard of a lot of his work in the past year and half, so I was very excited to be able to see him. I don't quite know how to sum him up briefly, but basically he was born in Mississippi in the 40's on a plantation as a sharecropper. He experienced plenty of hardships, including not having a mother or father, watching his brother be killed by the town marshal, and a lot of other racial injustices. He moved to California, was married, had some kids, and then came to know Jesus. After becoming a Christian he returned to his hometown in Mississippi to share the gospel of Christ. He began a movement there that is still rolling today, but far beyond that small town. He is a well known civil rights activist, and has lived out a message of reconciliation and community. I believe he only made it through grade 5 or something, but today holds 9 honorary doctorate degrees. Many call him a prophet. Today he and his daughter run the John M Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development, which contains a lot of different ministries. He is the founder of the CCDA-Christian Community Development Cooperation, whose mission is "to inspire, train, and connect Christians who seek to bear witness to the Kingdom of God by reclaiming and restoring under-resourced communities." The foundation of Urban Homeworks, which is the organization I live in, comes from CCDA.
So he is an influential man to many....
He was delightful to listen too. He has a fire in his bones that cries out-and the passion and conviction that he speaks with is enough to move a crown into action. The basic principles of his community development vision is the three "R"s-Reconciliation, Relocation, and Redistribution. These are the main things I have been learning about this past year and half, and really the reasons I decided to move to North Minneapolis in the first place. So to hear him go more in depth was very affirming for me.
He was casting a sort of new vision to us as Urban Neighbors the first night i heard him speak, which was very interesting. Basically he was talking about the break down of the family has to do with break downs in the community, and a part of that is that there is no wisdom being passed down from elders. For the most part in America, elderly are put in nursing homes or assisted living homes with each other, away from communities. (Because we put so much value on work and accomplishment, what value does a retired person have to society?) He presented a model of homes in the community being reclaimed for more than just young people, the older people of our communities who have so much life and wisdom before them to pass down to the younger generations. He stressed the value of retired folk tutoring and mentoring the younger ones. It really is community coming full circle, and it is an aspect of community that our generation doesn't know much about, if you ask me. I don't have any elderly people in my life personally (besides my grandma who lives in assisted living 45 minutes away) and a lot of people are missing out on the value of having a multi-generational community of people around them. This way we are taking care of those who have giving their all to society their whole lives, and as they impart their wisdom and experience we are taking care of them until the end. It is a beautiful picture.
Another topic he spoke of was young people in prisons, and combating that with tutoring in elementary schools. The way to solve the problems is by starting with the children. This relates back to my last blog a bit, how education really is the answer to, I would say, most of the problems of the world today. I was substitute teaching yesterday at a high school by my house, and we were reading out loud in the class. I would say all but maybe 2 students were reading between a 1st-3rd grade level. These are HIGH SCHOOLERS. How are they supposed to pass any test if they can't read the questions? How can they fill out a college application if they can't comprehend it? And how are they supposed to answer a job application intelligently if they don't understand proper word order? How did they get to high school with this poor of reading skills? I don't know how to deal with these questions, but I can begin to imagine the repercussions this will have in their lives. And in the lives of those around them. Can you imagine if you were 18 and couldn't understand a single thing you read? I would imagine i would feel dumb all the time. And then I wouldn't think I was worth getting a job, and doing anything significant. I would not look to education to give me value-I would find it in my peers and other things, often unhealthy things. It just makes me sad to think that some of those students will graduate without knowing how to read a book.
Lack of education is poverty for sure. Not just not being able to have an education, but not getting the education that you deserve is poverty. Lack of education is oppressive. Over and over again we are commanded in the Bible to set the oppressed free, care for the poor, seek justice. Jesus' life was all about this. God calls us to this, and I don't think it is choice. It becomes more than volunteering at a soup kitchen once a week, joining a pro-life facebook group, or praying for people in prison. It goes so much deeper than that, it demands a life of sacrifice and reconciliation, a life of the love that searches for solutions. It looks beyond surface problems and begins asking why. Why are people in prison? Why is there so much homelessness? Why can't they read? Where do we spend our money? Why does where we live make a difference? What does it truly mean to die so Christ can live?
The list goes on....
I won't settle, I am hopeful, and it's people like Dr. John Perkins who truly inspire me to live a life that is worth Christ dieing for. To live a life that brings the Kingdom.
"[Jesus] has given us the freedom to love everyone. We need to overcome blame, overcome guilt. We need to make this the kind of world we want to live in."
-Dr John Perkins
So he is an influential man to many....
He was delightful to listen too. He has a fire in his bones that cries out-and the passion and conviction that he speaks with is enough to move a crown into action. The basic principles of his community development vision is the three "R"s-Reconciliation, Relocation, and Redistribution. These are the main things I have been learning about this past year and half, and really the reasons I decided to move to North Minneapolis in the first place. So to hear him go more in depth was very affirming for me.
He was casting a sort of new vision to us as Urban Neighbors the first night i heard him speak, which was very interesting. Basically he was talking about the break down of the family has to do with break downs in the community, and a part of that is that there is no wisdom being passed down from elders. For the most part in America, elderly are put in nursing homes or assisted living homes with each other, away from communities. (Because we put so much value on work and accomplishment, what value does a retired person have to society?) He presented a model of homes in the community being reclaimed for more than just young people, the older people of our communities who have so much life and wisdom before them to pass down to the younger generations. He stressed the value of retired folk tutoring and mentoring the younger ones. It really is community coming full circle, and it is an aspect of community that our generation doesn't know much about, if you ask me. I don't have any elderly people in my life personally (besides my grandma who lives in assisted living 45 minutes away) and a lot of people are missing out on the value of having a multi-generational community of people around them. This way we are taking care of those who have giving their all to society their whole lives, and as they impart their wisdom and experience we are taking care of them until the end. It is a beautiful picture.
Another topic he spoke of was young people in prisons, and combating that with tutoring in elementary schools. The way to solve the problems is by starting with the children. This relates back to my last blog a bit, how education really is the answer to, I would say, most of the problems of the world today. I was substitute teaching yesterday at a high school by my house, and we were reading out loud in the class. I would say all but maybe 2 students were reading between a 1st-3rd grade level. These are HIGH SCHOOLERS. How are they supposed to pass any test if they can't read the questions? How can they fill out a college application if they can't comprehend it? And how are they supposed to answer a job application intelligently if they don't understand proper word order? How did they get to high school with this poor of reading skills? I don't know how to deal with these questions, but I can begin to imagine the repercussions this will have in their lives. And in the lives of those around them. Can you imagine if you were 18 and couldn't understand a single thing you read? I would imagine i would feel dumb all the time. And then I wouldn't think I was worth getting a job, and doing anything significant. I would not look to education to give me value-I would find it in my peers and other things, often unhealthy things. It just makes me sad to think that some of those students will graduate without knowing how to read a book.
Lack of education is poverty for sure. Not just not being able to have an education, but not getting the education that you deserve is poverty. Lack of education is oppressive. Over and over again we are commanded in the Bible to set the oppressed free, care for the poor, seek justice. Jesus' life was all about this. God calls us to this, and I don't think it is choice. It becomes more than volunteering at a soup kitchen once a week, joining a pro-life facebook group, or praying for people in prison. It goes so much deeper than that, it demands a life of sacrifice and reconciliation, a life of the love that searches for solutions. It looks beyond surface problems and begins asking why. Why are people in prison? Why is there so much homelessness? Why can't they read? Where do we spend our money? Why does where we live make a difference? What does it truly mean to die so Christ can live?
The list goes on....
I won't settle, I am hopeful, and it's people like Dr. John Perkins who truly inspire me to live a life that is worth Christ dieing for. To live a life that brings the Kingdom.
"[Jesus] has given us the freedom to love everyone. We need to overcome blame, overcome guilt. We need to make this the kind of world we want to live in."
-Dr John Perkins
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