I've just started catching up on the speeches, forums, and media appearances of McCain and Obama. I would never in a million years consider myself politically minded, rather, I'm really, really trying to raise above my innate apathy toward politics. Living internationally during the most- hyped American presidential election of my lifetime has made me feel like I need to know my stuff. My European friends know more about it, and have stronger opinions, than I have. And, I've actually sometimes wondered... America has SUCH an influence around the world, maybe the international community should have some sort of wee small percentage vote. Hum. That's probably not a patriotic thing to say.... (confession #1)
Confession #2: I've been caught up in the hype. It's exciting to me that we have two historic tickets. I love that when I was in college my social worker classmates were dreaming of a time when Obama would run, and here it is. And, regardless of her qualifications, it's pretty exciting to me to see an "every woman" on a ticket- I mean, that's the embodiment of the American Dream isn't it? Ever since Mr. Malo's eighth grade civics class I have LOVED "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" and while Jimmy Stewart wasn't in line to be President, the idea of a normal person, someone outside of the system getting involved makes me smile a little (Matt Damon does make an interesting case, though, for the "really bad Disney Movie" side of the coin).
Confession #3: I watched both acceptance speeches... and got a little teary eyed at both. Obama is good. He's inspiring, he's intriguing, he makes me feel like it's a real possibility that he could get into office and make everything wonderful. (That's the problem with a good orator, I suppose. There's more to government than pretty words.) But McCain. Ah. It killed me. There are things I like McCain for. I respect him for his story (although, I'd kinda like to hear the post-Vietnam chapters, too), and I think he, too, could be a breath of fresh air for America. But his closing words made me really sad, and I wondered if they made God sad, too.
Here's what he said (from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94302894):
"I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank him: that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on Earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.
Fight for what's right for our country.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you."
I wish he could have exchanged every "fight" with "love." How much more power could we have in the world if we loved together. If we loved for what's right for our country. If we loved for ideals and character of a free people. If we loved for our children's future. If we loved for justice and opportunity for all. If we stood up to love our enemies. If we stood up to love each other; to love beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. If we stood up, stood up, stood up and loved. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up loving. We never quit loving. We never hide from a history that lacked loved, but we make history by loving our fellow man. Thank you, and may America bless God.
That's a candidate I would vote for, hands down.
Wednesday 17 September 2008
Sunday 14 September 2008
Friday 12 September 2008
catch up ...again.
*Camping was excellent. The weather wasn't great, but clear enough for some lovely walks and damp enough to not feel guilty for a 4 hour Saturday afternoon nap. Our tent neighbors, however, were not so great, and spent the better part of Sunday wee hours screaming and yelling and cursing at each other. It was a bit frightening, and really sad, because I am certain that it's exactly what a lot of our kids and yp are exposed to at home. But. Aside from those 3 hours, it was a wonderfully refreshing weekend.
*This past weekend I spent in Belfast and it felt so good to not go anywhere. A free Saturday afternoon was golden!! Our friends at QC had us up for a traditional Sunday Dinner (on Saturday). It was Thanksgiving in September- AMAZING. H took the lead on that and treated us to one of the best English traditions.
*A German vol from several years back and his friend were in Ireland for a holiday last week. They were the best possible guests, cooking for us and with us, helping with dishes, good conversations, and, best of all, led several jam sessions. They had been hitchhiking around the country, busking with a guitar and violin, so we made them play for us and with us. We rocked out on lots of worship music, and it felt so Irish to be sitting in a house session.
*Finally got to take a tour of the Crumlin Road Gaol last Sunday. It only lasted about an hour, but it was interesting to see the jail behind the big wall that I pass at least a few times a week. And, morbidly enough, I think jails are fascinating. The whole idea of prison reform and punishment verses rehabilitation (is that even possible?), and an entire population of people living in an alternative society just baffles me. It was a bit uncomfortable to be one of the token Americans in the group, though, as our tour guide was talking of the 17 hangings that took there. The presentation was very much skewed toward the archaic nature of the death penalty, and it felt so true. And then I had to remember that the country that I am from STILL kills people like that. And, even worse, the state I am from is second in the country in terms of how many people get the death penalty. It turns my stomach and makes me sad for our country. So much of the world can't comprehend killing one of their own, why can we?
*My housemates and I hosted dinner for our guests and some FS workers who knew them. J and cooked 3 types of quiche, which all turned out really well. It's so nice to have people over and to be able to host a nice evening. I think we'll probably do a lot of that this year. (It also makes me really happy about the rearranging of the room. We use our dining table daily. It's amazing how furniture arrangement can so drastically change a space.)
*And then began birthday week. Three German vols had birthdays three days in a row. The first was on Tuesday, and he decided we all needed to go clubbing at the Limelight. Clubbing is a stretch for me and on a Tuesday even more so. I wasn't excited, but it turned out ok. It wasn't a bad night, although I did have to laugh at the situation: a club in Belfast, on a Tuesday, in a group of one NI guy, TWELVE Germans, and me. Who'd have thought?
*Afterschools has been nuts lately. Moments of goodness surrounded by TONS of chaos. I got whooped in Memory by a boy who has the foulest language, and generally rowdy behavior, but LOVES beating adults at the game. And I opened the door yesterday for another boy who I haven't seen since I've been back and he, literally, jumped up into my arms. Still makes me smile to think of it, which is good, because lots of the other things he does make me cringe. One girl set out to organize a craft a few days ago, and spent 15 minutes getting out ALL of the craft supplies, but she had all of the girls sitting at the table, excited for an art project. Those moments make the rest worth it- getting hit in the back by a boot throw from across the room and sitting with kids during a 10 minute time out are a little easier when the redeeming qualities of our kids are obvious, too. (I am fully aware of the ridiculousness of a 10 minute time out, but frustration won out and I needed the break as much as they did!! :) )
*So those "recreational riots" a few weeks back?? Well, the neighbors got angry enough to halt youth clubs at FS. They've made attempts at organizing themselves, although, they're still not settled on what kind of outcome they are hoping for. Half of them want the club closed for good. The other half want equal provision for Catholics and Protestants. And we can't do both. So for now, we can't have any youth into the building, which stinks. However, I think there's a major blessing in the midst of the mess: we get lots of time to focus on detached outreach. We've had several great nights out on the street. The weather's been crap- detached in lashing rain isn't so nice- but we've consistently seen several groups of yp and had really great conversation and football games.
The whole situation is intriguing. It's understandable that the neighbors are upset. It's lots of pensioners (who the heck thinks it's smart to put pensioners in government housing on the peace line? There's a reason the wall is up...) and other people who have had windows put out and houses bricked. But my first reaction is "why should these people have so much control over what we do?" And then I remember that it's a community centre, and I believe they should have a say in their community. It would be helpful if they had a good community organizer (and, in my biased opinion, one on the side of the club!!) who had good mediation and communication skills. Their feelings are justifiable, but I think their solutions avoid the problems. And meanwhile, our work has to change. The yp that we work with seem to be starting to understand that their actions led to the club's current closure, and they keep telling us how they haven't been rioting (although none are willing say they'd stop for good), but it's out of our hands now.
*Got tickets for the Swell Season!! It's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irgova from the movie Once and I AM SUPER EXCITED. Show isn't until November, but it'll be good.
*This weekend should be another good one. Shopping with K, volunteer lunch in town and the proms tomorrow (proms= big BBC orchestra concert on city hall lawn). Hope yours is good, too.
*This past weekend I spent in Belfast and it felt so good to not go anywhere. A free Saturday afternoon was golden!! Our friends at QC had us up for a traditional Sunday Dinner (on Saturday). It was Thanksgiving in September- AMAZING. H took the lead on that and treated us to one of the best English traditions.
*A German vol from several years back and his friend were in Ireland for a holiday last week. They were the best possible guests, cooking for us and with us, helping with dishes, good conversations, and, best of all, led several jam sessions. They had been hitchhiking around the country, busking with a guitar and violin, so we made them play for us and with us. We rocked out on lots of worship music, and it felt so Irish to be sitting in a house session.
*Finally got to take a tour of the Crumlin Road Gaol last Sunday. It only lasted about an hour, but it was interesting to see the jail behind the big wall that I pass at least a few times a week. And, morbidly enough, I think jails are fascinating. The whole idea of prison reform and punishment verses rehabilitation (is that even possible?), and an entire population of people living in an alternative society just baffles me. It was a bit uncomfortable to be one of the token Americans in the group, though, as our tour guide was talking of the 17 hangings that took there. The presentation was very much skewed toward the archaic nature of the death penalty, and it felt so true. And then I had to remember that the country that I am from STILL kills people like that. And, even worse, the state I am from is second in the country in terms of how many people get the death penalty. It turns my stomach and makes me sad for our country. So much of the world can't comprehend killing one of their own, why can we?
*My housemates and I hosted dinner for our guests and some FS workers who knew them. J and cooked 3 types of quiche, which all turned out really well. It's so nice to have people over and to be able to host a nice evening. I think we'll probably do a lot of that this year. (It also makes me really happy about the rearranging of the room. We use our dining table daily. It's amazing how furniture arrangement can so drastically change a space.)
*And then began birthday week. Three German vols had birthdays three days in a row. The first was on Tuesday, and he decided we all needed to go clubbing at the Limelight. Clubbing is a stretch for me and on a Tuesday even more so. I wasn't excited, but it turned out ok. It wasn't a bad night, although I did have to laugh at the situation: a club in Belfast, on a Tuesday, in a group of one NI guy, TWELVE Germans, and me. Who'd have thought?
*Afterschools has been nuts lately. Moments of goodness surrounded by TONS of chaos. I got whooped in Memory by a boy who has the foulest language, and generally rowdy behavior, but LOVES beating adults at the game. And I opened the door yesterday for another boy who I haven't seen since I've been back and he, literally, jumped up into my arms. Still makes me smile to think of it, which is good, because lots of the other things he does make me cringe. One girl set out to organize a craft a few days ago, and spent 15 minutes getting out ALL of the craft supplies, but she had all of the girls sitting at the table, excited for an art project. Those moments make the rest worth it- getting hit in the back by a boot throw from across the room and sitting with kids during a 10 minute time out are a little easier when the redeeming qualities of our kids are obvious, too. (I am fully aware of the ridiculousness of a 10 minute time out, but frustration won out and I needed the break as much as they did!! :) )
*So those "recreational riots" a few weeks back?? Well, the neighbors got angry enough to halt youth clubs at FS. They've made attempts at organizing themselves, although, they're still not settled on what kind of outcome they are hoping for. Half of them want the club closed for good. The other half want equal provision for Catholics and Protestants. And we can't do both. So for now, we can't have any youth into the building, which stinks. However, I think there's a major blessing in the midst of the mess: we get lots of time to focus on detached outreach. We've had several great nights out on the street. The weather's been crap- detached in lashing rain isn't so nice- but we've consistently seen several groups of yp and had really great conversation and football games.
The whole situation is intriguing. It's understandable that the neighbors are upset. It's lots of pensioners (who the heck thinks it's smart to put pensioners in government housing on the peace line? There's a reason the wall is up...) and other people who have had windows put out and houses bricked. But my first reaction is "why should these people have so much control over what we do?" And then I remember that it's a community centre, and I believe they should have a say in their community. It would be helpful if they had a good community organizer (and, in my biased opinion, one on the side of the club!!) who had good mediation and communication skills. Their feelings are justifiable, but I think their solutions avoid the problems. And meanwhile, our work has to change. The yp that we work with seem to be starting to understand that their actions led to the club's current closure, and they keep telling us how they haven't been rioting (although none are willing say they'd stop for good), but it's out of our hands now.
*Got tickets for the Swell Season!! It's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irgova from the movie Once and I AM SUPER EXCITED. Show isn't until November, but it'll be good.
*This weekend should be another good one. Shopping with K, volunteer lunch in town and the proms tomorrow (proms= big BBC orchestra concert on city hall lawn). Hope yours is good, too.
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