Simplicity

The devo I wrote for PSF's email today, in case anyone's interested:

“Simple living” is a topic often discussed and emphasized in the YAV community, and one that we Nashville YAVs recently learned more about in the book we’re currently reading together. Something I’ve been thinking about since our latest discussion is the fact that living simply is not solely about living with less money or fewer belongings. It’s never a bad practice to really think about what you buy and to avoid unnecessary clutter, but simple living can equally emphasize conscientiousness regarding the things we do acquire. The book we’ve been reading mentions the Quaker tradition’s emphasis on simplicity, for example, and quotes Thomas Kelly, a Quaker leader: “Prune and trim we must, but not with ruthless haste and ready pruning knife, until we have reflected upon the tree we trim, the environment it lives in, and the sap of life which feeds it.” There isn’t an overarching rule amongst Quakers against earning or investing money. Instead exists an emphasis on analyzation and reflection by each individual. It’s all about context, and figure out what’s right for yours.

The right way for you to live simply might indeed be to trim down purchases and go through all that stuff lying around. Or maybe it’s deciding to buy fair trade foods and clothing. Perhaps, though, it doesn’t even have to do with money at all. Thomas Kelly is again quoted, this time about simplifying the way we use our time: “Too many of us have too many irons in the fire. We get distracted by...our interest in a thousand and one good things...simplicity needs to be expressed not merely in the dress and architecture and the height of tombstones but also in...opposition to the hurried, superficial tendencies of our age.”

So, take a few minutes and think about how you can simplify. You don’t have to get rid of everything in your dorm room or apartment. You don’t have to commit to never earning any money. Think about what’s right for you, and give it a try.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

In case you're curious, the aforementioned YAV book is Practicing Our Faith, and is edited by Dorothy Bass. Also, speaking of books, I've been sorely lacking in my efforts towards crossing things off of my literary adventure list, but I'm working on it! Still on Mere Christianity...

Love,

Allison

Tomatoes

On your sandwich, on your salad, in your sauce...tomatoes are pretty simple right?

Recently I went with some fellow YAVs to another talk at Vandy. This time it was the Coalition of Immakolee Workers (or CIW), a group that fights for better working conditions and wages for tomato pickers in Florida, in addition to combatting modern-day slavery. (You know how this works: click the link for more info.)

Now, the whole time, I was thinking about the simplicity of tomatoes. Like...how many people think about the tomatoes on their sandwich at a restaurant? It's not like tomatoes themselves are a major food group. Tasty as they are, tomatoes just aren't a food that many people put all that much thought into. But here are these thousands of people who (try to) earn their livelihood by picking tomatoes, often in awful conditions and for little to no pay. So, a big part of what the CIW does is fight to get different businesses to raise the price per pound of tomatoes by one cent. That's it, just $0.01. But as it turns out, that makes a huge difference. And so far the CIW has gotten agreements from Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway. In addition to that one cent increase, these agreements also feature a code of conduct that guarantees safe working conditions and a zero-tolerance policy on modern-day slavery. As it turns out, now the CIW is focusing on getting supermarkets to agree to the same terms. So far only Whole Foods has agreed.

I am far from an expert on the CIW or food justice in general, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. And you know, as much as I can talk/type about it, it's an entirely different ball game to live it out. For example: halfway through writing this I went grocery shopping Kroger, including tomatoes. I don't know where they came from, but I bought 'em anyway. Why? Because Kroger has good prices. We YAVs just read a chapter on "household economics" for our Friday morning discussion, from Dorothy Bass's Practicing Our Faith. Part of it mentioned living simply, which is in theory (and hopefully practice) a big part of YAV life. It talked about how living simply does not have to mean giving up every single thing you own (though it does usually mean living with less), but instead it can mean being very intentional about the things that you do own. Ok, so, great. Buy fair trade goods and food, etc. and that "counts" as simple living. Well, more often than not, things certified fair trade (or clothing guaranteed to be made in good working conditions, etc) are more expensive. So, what to do if you're on a tight budget? I'm not sure. Granted, we Nashville YAVs could certainly be living far simpler existences, but we do have to put some thought into where we spend our stipends. Not to mention it's just a tricky thing for me to even remember to think about where that tomato came from.

I suppose regardless of whether or not my newfound tomato knowledge makes it into practice, it's a step in the right direction to be aware?

Love,
Allison.

All you need is...

From Room In the Inn's Facebook page.

In the words of Rev. Becca Stevens, chaplain of St. A's and founder of Magdalene House and Thistle Farms: "First is that love is the most powerful source for social change in the world. Second is that love heals. I’m not called to change the world. I am called to love it."

Love,

Allison.

A Swing Set God

So, I'm not gonna lie. Having a church playground as a backyard is pretty fun. My plan to call the parents yesterday and sit on the swings whilst I talked to them turned into just me swinging. (In my defense, I called, but they didn't answer.) And then I started thinking...

At the opening meeting of the FTE conference I went to a couple weeks ago (last post, if you missed it), an FTE staff person there encouraged us to "believe in the power of the pause." So how often do we pause enough to play on a swing set? I mean, really. Who does that? Whether the pause is a year or two of service instead of staying on the fast track to a career (not sure what exactly a religion major's fast even is, but anyway) or spending ten minutes on a swing, the pause is a beautiful thing.

Just chill.
Feel the wind on your face,
and the sunshine on your back.
Find peace in the gentle back and forth motion.
(Be careful to not let your legs hit the ground, as the swings are in all likelihood built for people quite a bit shorter than you...)

So there I sat swinging. Thinking. What if God is like a swing set? I mean, sitting still on a swing on a nice day is pleasant and enjoyable enough, but once you start moving. You've got to put effort into it. You're not getting anywhere exciting without some leg work. Slowly you start moving, building up anticipation and speed as the swing, and the passenger it's found in you, go higher and higher. It's risky...maybe seems kind of dumb. I mean, swing high enough and you might just fall right out and abruptly land in an prickly pile of mulch.

But you're not going to. 

Hang on tight enough and maybe you go airborne from the seat for a second, but you'll be alright.

I don't mean "hang on tight enough" as in "be close minded and never compromise," I just mean don't give up. And I don't know if it's God that's the swing set, or just faith itself. Neither is easy or effortless. To get the most out of faith you've got to go a little ways out on a ledge of sorts. Risk it, put yourself out there, trust that you'll be taken care of. If you can do that, you might just get that rush of wind that will send you to and from the very top of the swing set.

Happenings

My oh my, friends, how many things have happened since I last wrote!

About a week and a half ago, I made the long commute (and by that I mean drove 10 minutes down the road) to Nashville's Scarritt Bennett Center for a Volunteers Exploring Vocation (VEV) conference put on by the Fund for Theological Education (FTE). Hooray, more acronyms! Anyway, VEV brought together about 50 young people each spending a year serving with one of around 15 different faith-based volunteer organizations. Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Church of the Brethren, a handful of Presbyterians...all sorts of folks were there (all sorts of Christians, that is). I find it amusing the way God works. Off I went blogging about how the problems of the world can be overwhelming (scroll on down to my last post, if you missed it), and then I end up at this conference. As it turns out, one can be quite inspired by three days of nerdy conversations about living in intentional community and how our current cities of residence are handling various issues. In addition to hearing from several Vandy Div School professors (all really great, and I'd be happy to tell you more about their talks if you'd like), we took several field trips. We visited Thistle Farms one morning, and it was a really really great experience. If you haven't heard of them before, check out the link. It's good stuff. We also stopped by Room In the Inn's Campus for Human Development, which I've talked about before, I think. And also also there was our coffee break (yeah...coffee break, on the schedule. Awesome.) at Rocketown, a place for young people to go hang out in a positive environment. So that's the long story short about VEV conference, but I've got plenty more to say if you care to have a longer conversation. :)

The day after the VEV conference ended, I was off to Asheville, NC for PSF's spring break mission trip! Although we only had three students go with us, I think our seven-person group was really fun. It was quite lovely to be back in my home state, and to see mountains on the horizon. We spent our three workdays at A Hope Day Center, which provides a lot of the same services as the Campus for Human Development in Nashville. Showers and laundry, storage, an address at which to receive mail, birth certificate help, and a place to get out of the elements. They also focus a lot on getting people into affordable permanent housing (something of which Asheville apparently does not have nearly enough). It was really interesting to compare the two organizations, and see the differences between homelessness in Nashville and Asheville. We did all sortsa stuff at A Hope...a couple people spent most of their time talking (or perhaps more listening) to folks in the day room, while the rest of us did various cleaning/sorting tasks that the staff just don't have time to do. One of our big accomplishments was cleaning out and organizing a big closet, so A Hope could easily store their donations and have an operable clothing closet for their guests. We also attended an Ash Wednesday service at Haywood Street Congregation, which every Wednesday brings together people from all walks of life over a free meal and worship service. It was a really special experience, and we got the chance to talk to Haywood's pastor after the service. Maybe I'll write more about spring break later, but that's it for now. All in all it was a swell time in a town I was glad to get to know a little better.

Love,
Allison

Don't Do Nothing.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the sadness in the world. Don't get me wrong, I been having plenty of happy times too, but there's just so much tragedy and hurting out there. And that has the potential to be really really intimidating.

There's this house near the Shed that recently caught on fire. Though I don't know the owners, my guess by the current sight of the house is that it was a total loss. It's right there, maybe a five minute walk but we just go on about our relatively pleasant Shed lives. I passed by this house walking to CVS the other day, and I think it was the smell that got to me the most. It was smoky, almost like campfire smoke but will just a touch of something really unpleasant. At first you smell it and just assume someone is burning something off in the distance, but as you get closer to the house and the smell gets stronger, it just seems downright sinister. I think a smell can be sinister? And the way it looks...from the outside probably a third of the house looks untouched, then moving your eyes to the right you see the roof partially caved in, and the other end is just totally black and completely roofless. I mean, I can't imagine what it would be like, to all of a sudden lose your home out of nowhere. And right down the street from this house is a house that's been vacant and for sale since I got to Nashville, because the couple that lived there lost their lives in the flood last May. All that sadness just within a few blocks.

Then there are the situations that are bigger than just down the street. This past weekend we YAVs went to Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty's annual student conference (fellow YAV Vic works there and helped organize the conference), and I've been thinking about it ever since. Regardless of how you feel about the issue of the death penalty, it's pretty heart breaking. I mean, it's heart breaking that people commit violent crimes, and it's heart breaking that one of the ways people have sought justice for those violent crimes is to end another life. But anyway, I don't mean to turn this post towards politics.

I've been thinking lately about all these painful situations--the specific ones I just talked about as well as the ones that are around every day that can often get overlooked. Homelessness, hunger, depression, political conflict and war. It's really overwhelming to me. There are lots of nonprofits are out there, and that is so so great. But think about how many of them there are. Obviously I'm not saying they shouldn't exist, but my mind wanders back to the word "intimidating." How are you supposed to pick which ones to support? What cause deserves your attention more than another? If there are still going to be so many problems out there even after you try, what's the point?

That last question is a dangerous one, but I guess where I've ended up after this reflecting is that I can't do nothing. I don't mean that in the grammatically-incorrect-double-negative sense. I mean it in the sense that I have to do something. We have to do something. It doesn't have to big or revolutionary or even that important. I mean if it is, that's fantastic. But maybe our somethings can be taking a friend who has suffered a loss out for a cup of coffee, or helping set up for Room In the Inn, or even just a hug. (Though I'm told there are some people out there who don't like hugs, so choose your something wisely.) Whatever your something is, I figure even if we just stick to tiny acts of kindness it's better than doing nothing. And who knows, all those tiny things could lead to something pretty wonderful. As per the usual Tuesday, I served lunch at Isaiah 58 today and the pastor that spoke before lunch brought up an excellent point (that I think applies regardless of your religious views):

"Jesus had 12 people and turned the world upside down."

Love,

Allison.