Showing posts with label social justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social justice. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
weekend in Iowa
So I finally got to visit some friends in Iowa again. It's been several months, especially if you don't include my "stopping by on the way home from the twin cities" back in December. I arrived early afternoon on Saturday and got to hang out with Lori, Amanda, and her son Jacob at Coldstone. I was hoping Ellen would be working at the time but she was out on a retreat this past weekend. Afterwards, I had a long, boring time to kill before going to the last night of the Glory Days conference the Midwest Prayer Center was holding but I just hung out and read some books. That night I went to the conference, which was held at River of Life church.
On Sunday morning, some of Amber's cats were playing around a little too hard and one of them broke the window screen and fell out the window!!! I tell ya, it was not a good day. By the time Amber realized what happened her cat, Justice, was already gone hiding somewhere. So we didn't quite make it to church that morning. If you know Amber at all, you know that her cats are very important to her, so it was a very emotional time for her. But I'm happy to say that Justice returned home late that night.
Angie and Robyn decided to come by later that morning, and he walked around the neighborhood a bit to look for Justice and talk to some neighbors. Then we ate at Cici's Pizza, a pizza buffet place and it was packed! Not too bad though for a pizza buffet. Afterwards, we went back to Amber's place and then finally got in touch with Sara. I stopped by to hang out with her and her brother, Patrick, before meeting up with Amanda and Jacob to visit Cornell again. They had a music/art benefit for Darfur refugees. It was pretty fun. And I got to meet up with Brandon and Catherine Quehl-Engel again.
I went to hang out with Sara and Patrick again that night and I got to have a long talk with Sara, which was great, because I don't get to see her or talk to her that much. I finally went back to Amber's at 1am, where her and Kara were patiently waiting to hang out! Then on Monday morning, it was back to Chicago. Pretty fun weekend.
On Sunday morning, some of Amber's cats were playing around a little too hard and one of them broke the window screen and fell out the window!!! I tell ya, it was not a good day. By the time Amber realized what happened her cat, Justice, was already gone hiding somewhere. So we didn't quite make it to church that morning. If you know Amber at all, you know that her cats are very important to her, so it was a very emotional time for her. But I'm happy to say that Justice returned home late that night.
Angie and Robyn decided to come by later that morning, and he walked around the neighborhood a bit to look for Justice and talk to some neighbors. Then we ate at Cici's Pizza, a pizza buffet place and it was packed! Not too bad though for a pizza buffet. Afterwards, we went back to Amber's place and then finally got in touch with Sara. I stopped by to hang out with her and her brother, Patrick, before meeting up with Amanda and Jacob to visit Cornell again. They had a music/art benefit for Darfur refugees. It was pretty fun. And I got to meet up with Brandon and Catherine Quehl-Engel again.
I went to hang out with Sara and Patrick again that night and I got to have a long talk with Sara, which was great, because I don't get to see her or talk to her that much. I finally went back to Amber's at 1am, where her and Kara were patiently waiting to hang out! Then on Monday morning, it was back to Chicago. Pretty fun weekend.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Fearless
"Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself makes you fearless."
-Lao Tzu
This quote was used in the trailers for Jet Li's Fearless. It describes his character, Huo Yuanjia (a real person), very well. Based on a real life person in Chinese history, Master Huo became an incredibly gifted martial artist for the wrong reasons- to beat up challengers and be the best fighter in Tianjin. Ashamed, he retreats for several years out in the country and completely changes his attitude around. After returning to Tianjin, he faces international opponents and starts up his new school, the Jingwu Sports Federation, where he emphasized the continual improvement of body, mind, and spirit. Two contrasting scenes that show this transformation: Before he went away, he demanded Master Chin to sign a death waiver before fighting him. After returning, he fought Herculoes O'Brien (the big fighter, Boagrias, at the beginning of Troy). When asked to sign a death waiver before the match, he politely refused, and ended up saving O'Brien's life, howing respect to his opponent.
I just watched a documentary called Emmanuel's Gift. In Ghana, 10% of the population is disabled. Emmnauel was born with his right leg twisted and unusable. In Ghana, most of the disabled population resorts to begging on the streets and are mostly ignored and considered worthless. Emmanuel doesn't see things as most other people do. He wrote a letter to a foundation in the U.S. asking for a bike, so he can ride it across Ghana and prove the stereotype about disabled people wrong. Since his ride across Ghana, he has gone on to touch countless people around the world and help the disabled population in Ghana. Mastering yourself makes you fearless.
So how do we learn from these incredible men? Obviously, there's way more in each film, and I hope you see the whole movies if you have not already. Find out what you are good at, and pursue it with as much passion as humanly possible.
Mastering yourself makes you fearless."
-Lao Tzu
This quote was used in the trailers for Jet Li's Fearless. It describes his character, Huo Yuanjia (a real person), very well. Based on a real life person in Chinese history, Master Huo became an incredibly gifted martial artist for the wrong reasons- to beat up challengers and be the best fighter in Tianjin. Ashamed, he retreats for several years out in the country and completely changes his attitude around. After returning to Tianjin, he faces international opponents and starts up his new school, the Jingwu Sports Federation, where he emphasized the continual improvement of body, mind, and spirit. Two contrasting scenes that show this transformation: Before he went away, he demanded Master Chin to sign a death waiver before fighting him. After returning, he fought Herculoes O'Brien (the big fighter, Boagrias, at the beginning of Troy). When asked to sign a death waiver before the match, he politely refused, and ended up saving O'Brien's life, howing respect to his opponent.
I just watched a documentary called Emmanuel's Gift. In Ghana, 10% of the population is disabled. Emmnauel was born with his right leg twisted and unusable. In Ghana, most of the disabled population resorts to begging on the streets and are mostly ignored and considered worthless. Emmanuel doesn't see things as most other people do. He wrote a letter to a foundation in the U.S. asking for a bike, so he can ride it across Ghana and prove the stereotype about disabled people wrong. Since his ride across Ghana, he has gone on to touch countless people around the world and help the disabled population in Ghana. Mastering yourself makes you fearless.
So how do we learn from these incredible men? Obviously, there's way more in each film, and I hope you see the whole movies if you have not already. Find out what you are good at, and pursue it with as much passion as humanly possible.
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