Social Justice, and my opinion thereof

God recently put me in a really intriguing position for a period of about four months back in the late summer and autumn. I was able to help shape and focus a church's Serve Ministry team. This was a rewarding experience, because I learned so much of what was going on in my backyard, with regards to homelessness, poverty, and general societal brokenness. I know how to help others be involved, and I know about really amazing ministries, that are doing things out in the community.
But one of my favorite parts about the those four months was all of the learning I did about why we serve.

learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

-Isaiah 1:17

That scripture makes me think of a song, Courageous, which has a lyric that goes "Seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God". I liked that lyric so much that I taped it to the back of my iPod, to remind me of my true purpose here on earth: to shine a light. 

There's a part in the gospels where Jesus is talking about love for him, and talks of serving others because by doing so, we're serving Him. Christ even calls us to be feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, visiting those in prison, etc. 

Wow. Where was I when we covered that in church? Because it never spoke to me the way it did when I was reading that portion in private study. And here's the thing that throws me, consistently: if the church is a gathering of Christians, and Christians are called to serve... then why aren't churches serving? I look at a lot of the churches in the KC area, and I see a lot of "programs". There's sports, awanas, sponsored schools. But where are the soup kitchens, and the food drives. Are we serving the sick, the hungry, the poor?

Image found here

Let's switch subjects

After such a long and rather depressing post on Sachsenhausen, I thought perhaps we should change it up a little. Okay, maybe a lot in actuality.

Here's ten things that are on the ground right now for me:

1. Americorps finally contacted me. Now granted, it was about a new program I had applied for, but it's still super exciting to be going through a formal application process. This particular program requested more material from me, a sample of my writing style, two more references, a resume with cover letter, etc. I'm really excited, and already have my new references lined up, so life is looking good for the next few days. Maybe I'll have plans within a couple of months!

2. My internship is going awesome. It's lot of data, and number crunching right now, but I'm just loving the logistics of everything. I also love the fact that what I'm doing could have a lasting effect on the way things work at William Jewell. That may be the most exciting thing for me.

3. My piano recital is in T-six weeks! I'm faltering a little on some of the line up in repertoire, we're just the slightest bit short right now, but I may have figured out a solution to this problem, so check back in. I'll be announcing the date formally in three weeks, but the unofficial date is March 10th, at 5:30 pm.

4. If the piano recital is six weeks away, this means I only have 13 more weeks in which to write, assign, and rehearse everything for my composition recital. On that front, things are coming together slowly, but surely. My quartet has been assembled (yay, thanks Peter for agreeing to be my tenor!) and I have high hopes for the choir to come together soon. I have a reading for my strings piece two (three?) weeks from now, and we're *this* close to being ready to turn things in! I think my next composition lesson should take place over coffee. I plan to suggest this to him. No more stuffy classroom. :)

5. At the end of the second week of classes, I've switched my art history to pass/fail, which has lightened my homework load. The professor for this class tends to uncommunicative on my research topic choices, but that's okay, there's not as much pressure.

6. Speaking of that homework load, I think I've settled into the rhythm. Most of my classes have a fair amount of homework, which is slightly worrisome for my sanity, but if I just don't fall behind, ever, at all, with no exceptions, then I should be fine. Uh-oh, I think I'm already behind....

I think that's all for now, but it's enough. I'm still muddling through. Check back soon for final plans on the recitals and further travel updates!

What the future holds - Part 1

Not that I have necessarily on this,  but I'm really beginning to hope for it now.

AmeriCorps was suggested to me as I was looking for plans that would involve... non-academics for next year. It's a US federal program (think Peace Corps, but for America!) created by former President Bill Clinton in 1993. The work accomplished ranges from environmental outreach and cleanup, to community development. I've looked and looked and looked through the programs, and found one called: VolunteerMaine VISTA. Being picked for this program would be awesome, I'd be working with establishing a Service Learning program in Maine, especially focusing on schools.

So ducks in a row: Basic profile created.
Still to do: Oh so much.