HOLY NOLA BATMAN! or how could you be so thoughtless?

Shortly before the shootings in Colorado, my friend David preached a sermon titled 'Dirty, Desperate Love' (it's really good, you should check it out) and I mentioned that I preferred the term disruptive love. But then the shootings in Aurora happened, and now I'm thinking I prefer the term thoughtless love.

 We all know about those who were killed, but two stories kind of made me cry a little. 

The first was the story two best friends, one of whom was one of the first people shot. Allie was shot in the neck and her best friend, Stephanie, dragged her out of the isle, applied pressure and refused to leave Allie. Allie told Stephanie to run, to get out, but Stephanie refused. She then helped carry Allie through two parking lots and up a hill to the nearest ambulance. These two young women were willing to give up their lives so that the other could live. That love makes sense to me, there isn't a whole lot I wouldn't do for my best friend, B.

Then there is the story of Jarell Brooks, the son of a pastor, an 18 year old who stopped thinking about him self when the shooting started. He was going to get out when he ran into a young mother and her two children, and he made a choice. He decided that he couldn't live with himself if he got out without helping them and they got hurt. So he shielded them and got shot in the process. These decisions became acts of  thoughtless love, none of these people were thinking about their own survival, they were thinking about others. 

Thankfully we are not routinely placed in situations like this, but these stories made me wonder how can we practice thoughtless love everyday? 

Currently I am reading a phenomenal book 'Zeitoun' that my site coordinator sent me (I just got it tonight, but I am half way through it) . It's a story about a Syrian immigrant, a building trades contractor who stayed in New Orleans during and after Katrina. He helped rescue people and fed his neighbor's dogs. Then he was detained, this is as far as I have gotten, but I do know this, he went back to rebuild the city he loves. See I know this because I have a really bad habit of reading the end of the book, and so I know he came back. This is an amazing kind of thoughtless love, this man could have left. His wife begged him to leave, and still he stayed because he could be useful, because he could help people. With every thing that goes horribly, horribly wrong in this world, these examples of thoughtless acts of love seem to prove that the best of who we are, the best of what we will be is not found in service to ourselves, but in service to others. And perhaps this is the answer, consistently and deliberately being kind, until kindness is our default rather than anger or fear. Perhaps then we will all thoughtlessly love one another. 

Pax, 

Elizabeth

HOLY NOLA BATMAN! or how did I get here?

Hi Guys! It's Elizabeth and I am a Young Adult Volunteer heading to...you guessed it! New Orleans! SO, a bit about me, I love good food, blues and jazz, and am a Sci-Fi geek. I hate snow, I mean REALLY hate snow, hence, in part, New Orleans.

A little background, I have been arguing with God about this program for about the past 5 years, obviously I lost that argument. Honestly, I have been asking God what exactly I am supposed to do when I grow up (FYI, I'm 28) and how exactly I am supposed to do this. After my first interview with Kathy I knew I was going to New Orleans, so that is both the long and the short story of how I got here. I did apply to other international sites and did consider domestic sites, but none of them were what I like to call 'prom dress'.

You see, when my parents took me shopping for my prom dress I saw the dress I wanted, it was the first dress I tried on and I knew it was the one for prom. My parents made me try on other dresses and guess what? It was that first dress. When I was getting ready to graduate high school and considering what colleges to apply to, I went to visit U of O, I knew right then, didn't bother apply to any other school and loved every second of it. Prom Dress, but I got lucky with the YAV program. See if you are interested in an international site you have to go to discernment, I almost didn't go, because Prom Dress, right? But I wanted to make sure, because I did argue with God about this program for 5 years, so I went to the discernment event. Where I met amazing and awesome people, like TJ and Tricia and David who are all going to Northern Ireland and Lacy who is going to Denver, so you should keep up with them too, I know they would appreciate the thoughts, prayers and comments, they will be doing hard work. As for what I'm doing? Well, outreach education, explaining why wetlands and the conservation and reclamation of the wetlands are important, legislative tracking and working with the wonderful Bayou Blue project (I'll post links, I promise), so I'm not really sure that I will be doing hard work, more like getting paid to have fun. I'm sure there will be days that I am frustrated and I know that is when I will need prayers and support the most, but for now I am focusing on fundraising, packing up my life, and figuring out what I need in NOLA. For now, my focus is laundry so Pax my friends. 

HOLY NOLA BATMAN! or it seemed like a good idea at the time?

My mom HATES that phrase.Why did you color the dog blue with chalk? It seemed like a good idea at the time? Why did you did you dig a trench and play World War 1 in the backyard? It seemed like a good idea at the time? Why did you bring home shark eggs in formaldehyde and put them in the bathroom right before a dinner party? It seemed like a good idea at the time? And yes these are all conversations my mom has had with my brother and me. But 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' is not exactly a good response when people ask you about why you decided to apply to the YAV program. In fact it is a very bad response. I'm not talking about the congregation or good friends or people that just get it, I'm talking about those people who don't understand. They hear 'mission' and think suits, preaching on street corners or knocking on doors and asking homeowners if they have been saved. Bible thumping. So how do you explain to people why you are going into the mission field and what exactly that means, in 30 seconds or less, thank you. How do you explain the YAV program to people who are unchurched or not Presbyterian? It's difficult, the perception of mission is rooted in history, shades of rice bowl Christianity, tempered by the specter of 'the great white burden' and imperialism. Impressions that are not easy to erase in 30 minutes, much less 30 seconds. I have the problem but no real solution except to keep listening and responding. I figure this will come up again with the communities I work with, but if anyone has any ideas I'm listening.

Pax my Friends,

Elizabeth