Derived from Parks, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams (Pages 34-35), Sharon Daloz
Reflecting on the political cynicism of American society and the ironic detachment that characterizes many in his generation, twenty-four-year-old Jedediah Purdy writes: “We doubt the possibility of being at home in the world, yet we desire that home above all else.”
Materials:
Using Greek terms “protagonist” and “antagonist,” Forum Theatre seeks to show a person (the protagonist) who is trying to deal with an oppression and failing because of the resistance of one or more obstacles (the antagonists). This exercise is to explore what are the barriers keeping people oppressed in their places.
Ask one person to embody an oppression (they can choose anything). Other participants are asked to make a physical barrier by naming what keeps the person oppressed. When they name a barrier they stand in front of the person, blocking them. After several have formed a wall blocking the person who is oppressed, the remaining participants are asked to break down the barrier. Invite them to suggest solutions to break down the barriers of oppression.
Fr. Memo: “Spirituality is a place. It is a place of connection. It is a place of who we are and who we are to become. From a theological perspective, that ‘place’ is where the spirit is.”
Ronald Rolheiser:
“Whatever the expression, everyone is ultimately talking about the same thing – an unquenchable fire, a restlessness, a longing, a disquiet, a hunger, a loneliness, a gnawing nostalgia, a wildness that cannot be tamed, a congenital all-embracing ache that lies at the center of human experience and is the ultimate force that drives everything else. This dis-ease is universal. Desire gives no exemptions.”
“What we do with our longings, both in terms of handling the pain and the hope they bring us, that is our spirituality. Spirituality is what we do with the madness of life. It is what we do with the fire that burns within us. What shapes our actions is our spirituality. Spirituality concerns what we do with desire.”
Guillermo Campuzano, CM. Winter Quarter 2009
We all know that the main element of Vincentian spirituality is shaped by the direct encounter with the poor. Essentially, what should happen for this encounter to be transformative for people who are engaged in direct-service? The answer is simple: a conversation, a dialogue. Continue reading
Story based on a book by Sheila Zubrigg
This is an exercise to practice asking “why” questions. Listen to this story. Take a few minutes to journal or think about it, and then discuss.
Rakku did not breastfeed her baby; she had to work in the landowner’s field from dawn to dusk. As both a landless peasant and a woman, Rakku was paid far too little to feed her family, so she took her seven-year-old and ten-year-old children to work to help her earn more. She left the baby in the hut under the care of the five-year-old daughter. Even with the older children working beside her in the fields, Rakku’s earnings could not buy enough food. Often times the baby went hungry. A vicious cycle resulted with the baby’s increasing under-nutrition and repeated bouts of diarrhea. One day, the baby had severe diarrhea and grew limp, and Rakku decided to take her into the hospital in the city. To do this, Rakku had to miss a day’s work. At best, this meant a day without food, for the family had no reserves. At worst, she could lose her job—the consequences which she was afraid to think about. She knew a wiser mother would let her baby die to preserve the family, but Rakku loved her baby too much.
Rakku sold the last of her possessions to pay for the bus fare and took the child to the hospital. After waiting in line for hours, she was told she was too late and must come back the next day. Rakku slept in the street with the baby and returned the next morning. By then the baby was near death. The doctor scolded Rakku for waiting so long and for not taking better care of the baby. He referred her to a nurse, who carefully explained the importance of breastfeeding and hygiene. Rakku listened silently. Meanwhile, the doctor skillfully rehydrated the baby with an intravenous sugar water. The doctor gave Rakku a prescription for medicines to buy at a pharmacy and sent her home.
Back home, with no food or money in the house, the baby soon died.
Discuss: Take a few moments to think to yourself, write it down if you would like: “Why did Rakku’s baby die?” Make a list of all the reasons.
“If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.” –Turkish proverb
Listening is a magnetic and creative force.
When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.
When we are listened to, ideas begin to grow within us and come to life.
People are more happy and free when they are listened to. Continue reading
“In short, praxis is the process by which people reach deep understandings of themselves and their world by cultivating a conscious, active, and purposeful engagement with that world. Praxis also emphasizes that how an individual is positioned relative to systems of power strongly influences how the individual understands those systems of power.
This is an activity best done in pairs.
Complete each of the following sentences and discuss with your partner:
Purpose: The purpose of post-service reflection is to gather together and listen closely for the CALL of your experience. Through reflection, we remember, celebrate, integrate, and honor what we have experienced. What are you pushed and pulled to do in your personal life and in the larger community?
Check-in: This is critical to get a pulse on how people are returning from their experience. How have you shared your story, or how will you share it? Are there parts that you have not shared with anyone? Has it been difficult to come back? What concerns do you have about keeping the experience alive?
Hands reflection: How are you holding your experience?: Close your eyes. Open your hands in front of you. Notice how they feel. Now clench your fists tightly. Pay attention to how it feels. Open your hands again, notice any difference. Clench them one more time. Open your eyes. What did you notice about how it felt to open or clench your fist? Continue reading