A memorable Week-end

About a week or two ago, on a Saturday I did something that I had never done in my life before. I joined the ministry in my church called "Feed The People". I got to church at about 11:30am. The menu of the day was salad, spaghetti for the entrée and as a desert, chocolate cream pie. There was a bunch of vegetables to cut into small pieces and a load of tracks to fold. By 2pm, after the food and the tracks were ready, we loaded them into the two vans that would gad us around the streets of Kansas City. We (about ten of us) gathered to implore God's favor The first van would go at a popular park where it is expected to see homeless people and the second van, the one I was in, would go wander under the bridges, in front of a high rise buildings and shelters to distribute foods to all those "hungry" people; hungry of a good diner, hungry of a better tomorrow, hungry of a better life. That week end was really really hot, it was about in the 90s outside. We were strolling the streets of downtown and laying down on a thin piece of cloth was a man, he could barely moved, so skinny was he, so deshydrated was he that one of us had to sponged his face w/ some cold water. The next stop was under a bridge. At this bridge, there was a "dénivellation" between the upper freeway right where its socle laid and the lower road, right there, four homeless had found refuge. We gave them some food with drinks and a track and wished a happy "God Bless you" and they gladly wished the same back to us. We stopped by at least five different bridges, all people we encounter were white. By 4pm we were wandering in a neighborhood for low income families, and something struck me there: a bunch of kids running around, playing with one another, and the "parents" (sometimes too young to be parents) sitting in front of the house doing nothing or getting pregnant then strutting about up and around; here, the racial predominance was black. So I thought what is the chance for a kid growing in this neighborhood not to replicate the same deeds as their parents? Or should I say as their 'parent' (with no 's') as most of the time, 'daddy' is not around. In a country so full of resources and opportunities why are there still so many people in miserable, indescribable conditions? I used to be very skeptical and critical of those people, thinking they were lazy bums til one day, I went to a food distribution with a different organization and we watched a video and this women, was telling her story: she was well educated, had two degrees and a master, had a good income and her own house, then she became sick and the diagnosis turned out to be more serious than anticipated, she had to take time off work, then more time off, then some more time off til the company had to "let her go", by ricochet lost her health insurance; at the meantime medical bills would accumulate, she tapped into her house equity to pay for them, eventually she couldn't keep up any longer with the bills and eventually lost her house and had to ask for charity to survive. The only crime she had committed was to become sick. After witnessing all that misery on the streets of KC, only humility and gratefulness should fill one's heart. We ended our tour around 7pm, got back to church, rinsed the dishes, thanked God in a brief moment of prayer for a day well accomplished, then took our separates ways.

Christian Divorce

Today, I'd like to talk about the grounds for divorce as a Christian. I recently read a Pastor friend's article about getting married and divorced for papers. (I'll discuss the getting married for papers part on a later post, for now let's concentrate on the subject at hand.) Here is what he wrote: "divorces due to abuse, addiction, irresponsibility and what have you other than fornication is sinful." I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH HIM!! First of all, my Pastor friend that I'm going to call P.A. is a man of God, well educated about spiritual things, as I mentioned he's a pastor, therefore has a degree in theology and has been a minister for several years now. As for me, I'm just the average Joe (at least concerning spiritual matters but here's my take on this). Relationships in general, and marriage in particular are established on deals, explicit and implicit. Over the years, I've worked at different companies, small and large. In general, the company expects its employees to arrive on time at work, dress appropriately and use the company's tools to perform their duties, and these are explicit deals that if an employee does not respect, the company can fire him/her. However a company can also fire an employee who curses at someone else though it is not explicitly written in the contract. This is a normal undercurrent that does not need to be put down in words for one's to behave as such: "Thou shall not curse!". Same things apply to marriage, because the vows don't include the part that says: "We stay married as long as you don't abuse me" does not mean that if one partner becomes abusive, the other should swallow it in the name of "for better and for worse" or in the name of "the bible says..." Many people choose to remain in abuse situations for some unpalpable reasons; if you're living or lived a similar situation, please enlighten me as to why you chose to "save" an unsalvable relationship/marriage. Even the Lord Jesus himself did not take the abuse from anyone...just with his words, he stopped a crowd who was ready to stone him to death.

An exhausting week

This week has been very exhausting (don't let the smile fool you). I've worked in average 11.5 hrs each day, trying to make some progress on a new project that got handed to me about two weeks ago. My mom who is on the other side of the Atlantic, works in average 30-35hrs/wk, and definitely has a better life than I. Don't take me wrong I love my job, and I particularly enjoy the fact that I can work those long hours without feeling the time passing. There is this invigorating feeling that warms me up at the thought of being productive. Work is not a burden especially when one is doing something that one enjoys. In fact it's a blessing from the One up above, a defining factor of one's personality for many. I remember a few years ago, one of my friends had some friends over at her place for a visit, we were hanging out together and we got unto talking about what we were doing for a living. Back then, we were a bunch of college students, struggling to pay for our tuition and fees while maintaining somewhat a 'normal' life. As each of us took turn whining about our miserable jobs, my friend while making up some story about her job, winked at me, indicating me I should not reveal her true "profession" to her friends. She was attending hotel rooms as a maid. For one reason or another, we all take pride or shame (for some) in what we do as a living. On how much money we're making. We define who we are by what we do, what we wear, how we speak, who we know. My husband often says that: "we are the sum of our experiences". Regardless of what defines us, somehow we all strive to make a difference in this indifferent world by different means.

My first posting

At last, here I am, entering the world of blogging. I hope this will be an enriching and rewarding experience. This blog will be a repository of memoirs, experiences and exchanges on various subjects with my favorites being: religion, political issue, feminism, everyday life issues, successes and failures stories. Welcome aboard!!