Touching the Earth at the Interfaith Seder

This post was written by Ashley Brazil, co-President of DePaul Interfaith. Ashley is graduating this June with a degree in Sociology.

A few nights ago I attended my first Passover Seder. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew there would be food so I was excited. The vent was an incredibly affecting one.

Passover is the Jewish festival or remembering their history as a people. While at the Seder, learning about the symbolic foods, listening to the prayers and songs that go along with the ritual meal I couldn’t help but be touched by the significance it had for me as an African American. The central idea of remembering the trials and perseverance of ancestors is something that resonated with me and called to mind my family celebrating Watch Night every New Year’s Eve. The similarities were so uncanny that with the help of a simple Google search I found that I’m not the only one seeing the connection between Jews and African Americans. Continue reading

Tech Sabbath

This post was written by Ashley Brazil, co-President of DePaul Interfaith. Ashley is graduating this June with a degree in Sociology.

My computer has a virus on it, which means I don’t currently have it. This post was originally written by hand. Not having my computer has made me realize how much time I actually spend sitting behind the computer and how dependent I’ve become on it , for information, communication, entertainment, even telling the time. This made me think of “tech Sabbaths”.

A while ago, I stumbled on an article about tech Sabbaths, or secular Sabbaths. It’s a new practice (or old, actually, if you’re familiar with Judaism) where people intentionally take a break from technology. No iPods, TVs,  cell phones, computers, CD players, video games or anything else that rings, dings, buzzes, beeps, vibrates, talks, or plays video or music by way of electricity or batteries. Continue reading

A Fly on the Wall

This post was written by Ashley Brazil, co-President of DePaul Interfaith. Ashley is a senior, finishing up her degree in Sociology this June.

A few days ago, I returned to my dorm room after a long day to find that my roommate had left the window open and a fly had gotten into the room. My first thought was “Darn! How am I supposed to sleep tonight with this fly in here?” Continue reading

Nam-Kha and the Mystery of Being

This is Dominique Johnson’s first blog post on this website. He is a sophomore at DePaul University, seeking a major in Religious Studies. Domonique is an active member of DePaul Interfaith.

“There are three things, Bhikshus, that are everlastingly the same, upon which no vicissitude, no modification can ever act: these are the Law, Nirvâna, and Space and those three are One, since the first two are within the last, and that last one a Mâyâ, so long as man keeps within the whirlpool of sensuous existences.”—Buddha Continue reading

A Lesson in Impermanence

This article was written by Peter Dziedzic, a sophomore at DePaul, who is pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and English. Peter is the co-President of DePaul Interfaith and member of the Executive Committee of the Better Together Campaign at DePaul University. Follow Peter on Twitter.

Around my neck, I wear a Buddhist medallion that was given to my by a small, joyful monk on a small island on the outskirts of Bangkok when I studied abroad in Hong Kong and Thailand this winter. After speaking and touring the grounds of his monastery for about an hour, he offered me this medallion, a symbol of friendship and good fortune. There was something powerful in the way the monk carried himself, in the way he offered both his smile and the tiny bronze sliver. It was more meaningful than the array of cheap DVDs or knock-off Ed Hardy shirts that any market in Bangkok or Thailand could ever offer. Continue reading