Yesterday it (gasp) snowed in Houston! Two days before it was 70 degrees and it’s now back to sunny 70-degree weather, but for one day Houston experienced a season other than summer. I don’t know how it happened, but the whole city was in shock as white stuff they have never seen before fell from the sky. While the snow only fell for a few hours and only stuck to cars, roofs, and bushes, the people in Houston ran to the grocery store and locked themselves inside like they were preparing for a hurricane. My roommates and I went outside to make snowballs and embrace the change in weather. Though the snow fun was short lived, it was nice to experience something other than hot, humid weather. From hurricane to snow storms, we’ve got it all down here in Houston.
Paz,
Stephanie
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
SOA Protest/ Ignatian Solidarity Network Teach-In
Recently I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the School of the Americas Protest and Ignatian Family Teach-In in Fort Benning, GA. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, it’s basically a gathering of thousands of social justice/Jesuit-lovers from dozens of high school, colleges, and communities from around the country. The weekend is packed with speakers, musicians, and prayer all centering on the theme of the nature of our Christian faith being intertwined with the struggle for justice. I first learned of the SOA while in El Salvador. The 6 UCA martyrs, Oscar Romero, Rutilio Grande (who my JVC house is named after), and the 4 Churchwomen were all victims of SOA graduates, as well as the countless innocent people massacred at El Mozote. After learning more about the SOA and meeting people in El Salvador affected by the violence I became more interested in the gathering, but never had an opportunity to attend. This year as a Jesuit Volunteer living out the four values of community, social justice, simple living, and spirituality, my attendance at the protest seemed quite appropriate since the event itself is a lesson on the interconnectedness of these values.
Since I was having trouble finding a way to Georgia, all planning for the weekend was spur of the moment. Thursday after work, Katie and I rented a car and drove 6 hours to New Orleans. We arrived at the JV house around 2:00am and spent the night on the New Orleans JVs’ couch. We woke up early the next morning and caught a bus with a group of students from Loyola New Orleans and drove 7 more hours to Fort Benning, GA. Loyola hooked us up with a hotel room at the Marriott, but since the NOLA JVs hadn’t planned out sleeping arrangements, we had about 5 people crashing on our hotel floor. Since Katie and I had spent most of our monthly stipend on renting a car, we survived the weekend by reverting to a simple Hurricane Ike diet of bread and peanut butter, which we brought with us from Houston.
Other than the over crowded sleeping space, hunger, and sleep deprivation; the weekend was an amazing and powerful experience. The sense of community at the protest was amazing. I had my JVC community and met past and present JVs from all over the U.S. and abroad. I had my Fordham community, some people I met while in Ecuador, and best of all I had my El Salvador community. It was great to reunite with everyone I studied abroad with and even some of the Salvadorians who traveled to the U.S. just for the event.
Friday and Saturday were filled with inspiring speakers. Some powerful speakers included the president of John Carroll, Fr. Niehoff, who kicked of the weekend with a call to action by saying, “Our dissatisfaction at injustice is a sign that the spirit of God is still working through us.” Fr. Niehoff was followed by a JV support person and Catholic Worker, Joe Mueller, who spoke on learning as a vocation and the need to continue educating ourselves no matter our age, because knowledge is always power. One of the most anticipated speakers of the weekend was John Sobrino, S.J., one of two survivors of the massacre of the Jesuits at the UCA in El Salvador. He gave a powerful speak on the need to take action against injustice in a non-violent way. He said, “We are called not to fight people, but environments where God is absent.” Saturday was concluded with a huge Mass. Sunday was the actual protest. Twenty thousand people went to the gates surrounding the military base. It was a somber, prayerful event. Everyone lined up holding crosses with the names of the people killed by SOA graduates as cantors sung out the names. After each name was sung, the crowd would respond, “Presente (Present).”
We marched slowly until we reached the gate and we placed our crosses in the fence as a kind of memorial to the dead. It took over three hours for each name to be called. It was an amazing act of solidarity with the people of El Salvador and everyone affected by injustice that words cannot describe.
Paz,
Stephanie
Since I was having trouble finding a way to Georgia, all planning for the weekend was spur of the moment. Thursday after work, Katie and I rented a car and drove 6 hours to New Orleans. We arrived at the JV house around 2:00am and spent the night on the New Orleans JVs’ couch. We woke up early the next morning and caught a bus with a group of students from Loyola New Orleans and drove 7 more hours to Fort Benning, GA. Loyola hooked us up with a hotel room at the Marriott, but since the NOLA JVs hadn’t planned out sleeping arrangements, we had about 5 people crashing on our hotel floor. Since Katie and I had spent most of our monthly stipend on renting a car, we survived the weekend by reverting to a simple Hurricane Ike diet of bread and peanut butter, which we brought with us from Houston.
Other than the over crowded sleeping space, hunger, and sleep deprivation; the weekend was an amazing and powerful experience. The sense of community at the protest was amazing. I had my JVC community and met past and present JVs from all over the U.S. and abroad. I had my Fordham community, some people I met while in Ecuador, and best of all I had my El Salvador community. It was great to reunite with everyone I studied abroad with and even some of the Salvadorians who traveled to the U.S. just for the event.
Friday and Saturday were filled with inspiring speakers. Some powerful speakers included the president of John Carroll, Fr. Niehoff, who kicked of the weekend with a call to action by saying, “Our dissatisfaction at injustice is a sign that the spirit of God is still working through us.” Fr. Niehoff was followed by a JV support person and Catholic Worker, Joe Mueller, who spoke on learning as a vocation and the need to continue educating ourselves no matter our age, because knowledge is always power. One of the most anticipated speakers of the weekend was John Sobrino, S.J., one of two survivors of the massacre of the Jesuits at the UCA in El Salvador. He gave a powerful speak on the need to take action against injustice in a non-violent way. He said, “We are called not to fight people, but environments where God is absent.” Saturday was concluded with a huge Mass. Sunday was the actual protest. Twenty thousand people went to the gates surrounding the military base. It was a somber, prayerful event. Everyone lined up holding crosses with the names of the people killed by SOA graduates as cantors sung out the names. After each name was sung, the crowd would respond, “Presente (Present).”
We marched slowly until we reached the gate and we placed our crosses in the fence as a kind of memorial to the dead. It took over three hours for each name to be called. It was an amazing act of solidarity with the people of El Salvador and everyone affected by injustice that words cannot describe.
Paz,
Stephanie
Joel Osteen
This past weekend my roommates and I went to Lakewood Church, or the Church of Joel Osteen. For those of you who have never heard of Joel, he’s a TV evangelist in Houston. He has billboards all over the city and every Sunday he’s on TV all day. He’s written two books on how to become a better person and he and his wife, Victoria, are mini celebrities around town. We were a little curious why Joel is so popular, so we decided to attend one of his services.
Lakewood Church is a converted basketball arena. The whole thing is a little ridiculous. We entered the church and there was a help desk and bookstore (actually there were bookstores on every floor). We were standing in the front entrance gawking at the larger than life sized poster of Joel when an usher asked if he could help us. We said we were visitors and didn’t know where to go. The usher told us to follow him. We did, and the whole time I felt like I was going to a concert or Broadway show. There were programs and number aisles and ushers in suits with walkie-talkies and flashlights. The usher brought us all the way to the VIP section. He pulled back the red velvet rope so that we could make our way to the third row. Since Joel is all over TV I’m sure we got some airtime since we were so close to the action.
As we waited for the service to start two jumbo-trons flashed ads for Joel’s newest book and CDs. The service began with the choir rising out of the fog as the diva lead singer strutted around the stage. Everyone in the audience was jumping around and dancing. The first hour of the service was basically a Christian concert. People were waving their arms and crying. This made me really uncomfortable since I’m used to just singing a few hymns out of a hymnal and then sitting, standing, and kneeling on cue. When Joel came out it was like a super star had just entered the room. People were cheering and screaming. Cameras were flashing. The whole thing was such a production.
Joel’s speech was a feel good message of keep praying and keep filling yourself with the Holy Spirit and good things will happen to you and you will gain all kinds of wealth. There was no mention of others. It was all about the individual and how to get ahead in life. The saddest thing is that people are buying this message. People want a religion that comforts them and makes them feel good. They see God as some kind of Santa Claus type figure who if you ask for it he gives it to you. Needless to say, Joel did not provide me with any spiritual insight, but he does score a few points for putting on a great show.
Paz,
Stephanie
Lakewood Church is a converted basketball arena. The whole thing is a little ridiculous. We entered the church and there was a help desk and bookstore (actually there were bookstores on every floor). We were standing in the front entrance gawking at the larger than life sized poster of Joel when an usher asked if he could help us. We said we were visitors and didn’t know where to go. The usher told us to follow him. We did, and the whole time I felt like I was going to a concert or Broadway show. There were programs and number aisles and ushers in suits with walkie-talkies and flashlights. The usher brought us all the way to the VIP section. He pulled back the red velvet rope so that we could make our way to the third row. Since Joel is all over TV I’m sure we got some airtime since we were so close to the action.
As we waited for the service to start two jumbo-trons flashed ads for Joel’s newest book and CDs. The service began with the choir rising out of the fog as the diva lead singer strutted around the stage. Everyone in the audience was jumping around and dancing. The first hour of the service was basically a Christian concert. People were waving their arms and crying. This made me really uncomfortable since I’m used to just singing a few hymns out of a hymnal and then sitting, standing, and kneeling on cue. When Joel came out it was like a super star had just entered the room. People were cheering and screaming. Cameras were flashing. The whole thing was such a production.
Joel’s speech was a feel good message of keep praying and keep filling yourself with the Holy Spirit and good things will happen to you and you will gain all kinds of wealth. There was no mention of others. It was all about the individual and how to get ahead in life. The saddest thing is that people are buying this message. People want a religion that comforts them and makes them feel good. They see God as some kind of Santa Claus type figure who if you ask for it he gives it to you. Needless to say, Joel did not provide me with any spiritual insight, but he does score a few points for putting on a great show.
Paz,
Stephanie
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