Community of St. Egidio

On our last day in Rome, we talked about modern Catholicism and its successes in failures in integrating itself in the world. Changes in thought mirroring the protestant reformation came around 400 years later than Luther, and did manage to "throw open the doors of the church". The mass in native language, the priest facing the congregation, and a new understanding of indulgences all contributed to a more accessible church. Other doctrines worked on areas of inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue. Many lay people, however, did not feel like they had much say in their church and church community. A few organizations popped up, one of the most influential of which was the Community of St. Egidio. It started as 14 students gathering for a quick reflection on a bible passage and has grown to an international movement advocating for the poor, asking Catholics to be conscious of prayer, increasing ecumenical dialogue and abolishing the death penalty. Their official website provides links to their various causes and more information on their international (and inter-faith) day of prayer.
Ever since second semester Amcon I've been thinking about the role that religion plays as a social organization. The Catholic church saw an increased success when it opened itself to the global context, attempting to address issues that effected members beyond theology. In a similar way, the Community of St. Egidio took the movement one step further. They created that social capital within their small group, and then expanded it to the rest of the world. I would argue that if the Catholic Church wants to remain relevant they must make similar moves to the community.

Photo From Manzanar

Caption 1: Yonehisa  Yamagami strikes this pose, modeling himself after FDR's famous cigarette-holder portraits. Yamagami is fully aware of the look he gives, and with tongue and cheek he defies his situation. The glee on his face and the air he emanates model FDR's optimism for the new deal and the war ahead, but for some reason I doubt Yamagami uses this look to express a similar positivity. Yet the fact that he jokes proves his spirit is not crushed. He is stuck, but not despondent.

Caption 2: I have this cigarette, it's like I'm the president! Well, he wouldn't be spending his time here. He's occupied with the war, no doubt. Bringing peace I suppose. At least I'll give Adams a laugh!  

The Happiness Project

At the beginning of this course, I mentioned that I had read a book that pertained all too closely to our topic for this semester. The title was The Happiness Project, and it was written by Gretchen Ruben, a mother of two, lawyer-turned-writer who decided she was not valuing the joy in her life well enough. On a bus one day she asked herself if she was happy. Her response was yes, but was followed by another question-- "Could I be happier?" Thus began her journey of happiness, covering all her bases from Plato to St. Therèse in order to discover what makes people happy, what happy people do and what comes from happiness. She had multiple strategies to go about this. In the end, she said, the one that aided her the most in her journey to happiness was her virtues chart. Modeled after Benjamin Franklin's, her chart was divided by month. Each had a theme, and a set of virtues that followed it. If I had my book with me I would give you a more precise example... I remember January was something along the lines of "Tidy Up!", and her virtues had to do with ridding of clutter, not taking on more tasks, etc. Every month she would tack on another set of virtues, all the while keeping track of the ones from months before. This would all occur on a large chart she would keep in her office. After months of trying to build a collection, doing random acts of love and going to sleep on time she said she wasn't sure if she was happier. But she did know that she was spreading positivity more, and that the people she knew were more thrilled to be around her. In the end, isn't that what happiness is?

Wordle

I was procrastinating today and decided to make a wordle of my Amcon blog. Theoretically, I think it took all the posts I've ever written. Interestingly enough, happiness was on of the big words I've used-- one of the biggest, actually.

Thank Goodness for Rosy Retrospection

The ability to look back on something and laugh probably provided an evolutionary advantage for humans back in the day, because without it all those bad memories we experience would do nothing but drag us down. For those who don't know the psychological term, rosy retrospection "refers to the finding that subjects later rate past events more positively than they had actually rated them when the event occurred.". What was this:

Later becomes an event to remember, with smiles and laughter, between family members far removed from the insanity and thoughts of "Is Yellowstone really worth this?". I can hear the glacé nostalgia from a 1950's mother, slightly sighing and giggling as she says to her young son "Remember when that bear chewed through our cooler of ice cream at Shenandoah? Oh, the look on your father's face! And the way you ran with the bear trotted towards you!"
Every year our family would take trips to Door County WI, a six hour car ride that lasted ages when I was 9. Throughout the years my sister's major meltdown about the dog near our cabin, our last-minute motel room turned cottage with no refrigerator for a week, and my mother insessently berating my father for missing the trolley on Washington Island (and thus, of course, "ruining her day AND the rest of the vacation") would all become little blips on my childhood radar, nothing more than a bump in the road or expression of how far we've come as a family since. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I suppose.

Psycholigcal & Economic Happiness.

I'll have to admit, going into lecture yesterday I was skeptical about how economics and happiness could correlate. When we were discussing, I can't say my suspicions were dispelled. In fact, I would agree even more that economics don't really influence genuine happiness. There was a fundamental assumption that buying goods brings someone happiness, and quite frankly, I don't think that's true. Perhaps it's safer to say that there is a misconception that consumption brings contentment, but I cannot believe happiness is that shallow. Now of course, there's a certain amount of "things" people need in order to live and thrive. Some people may draw that line more towards clutter than sparsity, but no matter how much you buy to fill your life with "worth", I feel like happiness comes from a cognisance, not an object. More on that later.
But I wonder how much people believe that buying will bring them happiness. One may frequently object material culture. Yet I still find myself thinking that buying a new waterbottle will make me happier, or that if I had a nicer car my life would be smooth sailing. And there is a certain degree of satisfaction that comes from buying that beautiful pair of boots that you just really want, but it fades. That, I would say, is the fundamental flaw with consumption being the root of happiness- objects and their associated emotions fade.
This is why I think positive psychology is a much better approach to finding happiness. If we address how we view happiness, or create patterns of behavior that allow us to create our own happiness regardless of situation we create a much more sustainable emotion. With nothing but out own minds we can appreciate the happiness we do have better. While it may not always work, it is the process that is part of the joy as well. Perhaps that could be considered the process I've mentioned in conversing with other students.

The Question You Always Get...

I suppose I don't have to post in my blog anymore... But I'll take that as an invitation to expand as apposed to an order to halt.

On most applications there will be a question asking about a leader you admire and how you try to emulate them. I've been struggling to find my answer for a while now and I think I finally found it in Jane Addams. Take a look at my response here:

After studying her in Amcon, I really came to appreciate Jane Addams. While she is a little bit of an older example, I really admire her ability to put a social justice issue in perspective. She saw immigrants' condition in Chicago near the turn of the century and identified solvable problems. She saw what her means were and directly asserted herself within her own community to match the needs of the population she was observing. She did so succinctly, efficiently, and with an air of constant evolution.
I can only hope to accomplish as much as she did in her lifetime. I see the value in working within your own community though. It is the one you know best, after all, and it is this intimacy that allows you to address its specific needs. When Jane Addams saw that her Chicago neighborhood had no bathhouses while she turned her goal to increasing access to hygiene. I hope that I may be able to understand my community well. My draw to understand this communities obstacles lead me to joining Northfield Community Scholars. As I explore the struggles minority populations face in school through tutoring at TORCH for this program I hope I may intricately know one aspect. Beyond that, simply knowing the value of personal perspective will be important for any service I do.
My difference stems from a broader vision, though. Through any work I do I hope to reach for the deeper issue. I hope that any work I do reaches beyond the current moment and pushes for fixing the greater problem that Addams really had no direct interest in fixing. Not to say she didn't want to correct wrongs, but she recognized the importance of work here and now, where as I appreciate service speaking towards a broader truth.

I couldn't have done it without amcon.