Evolution

Since I've already written about revolution, I figured "heck it's rhyme time," so we're gonna work it evolution style...then maybe down the road we'll throw in a little devolution or possibly pollution. That wasn't really funny, but I'm tired and trying to think critically, which naturally leads to rhyming. Alright, procrastination over. Today was I sitting in Tibetan class and TJ (our most excellent Tibetan buddy/teacher) was talking about the elections for the Tibetan government's next prime minister. He talked about the favored candidate, who happens to be a young upstart with ideas about sweeping changes. In his analysis of the situation cute little TJ said something that catch my attention real quick. Speaking about his uneasiness with large changes in the Tibetan government, TJ said, "our culture is our heritage". What an interesting statement, I thought. 

I wanted to wrap my head around his statement so I googled culture and heritage. Heritage is defined as "practices that are handed down from the past by tradition" and culture was defined as "the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization". In this context, I feel like he was saying that the way we behave is something that has been given to us from past generations. Maybe he believed sudden, or sweeping, changes would cause Tibetan’s to lose a piece of their culture and heritage.  What happens then when there is an evolution of culture? According to our heritage segregation was a fact of life a hundred years ago, yet our culture now shuns the thought. I believe our heritage develops our culture. The two terms are not synonymous because culture is continually evolving while heritage remains the same. TJ is right, there is a significant relationship between the two concepts – but, heritage allows us to look at what has been handed down and improve upon it…from this process culture is created. Culture requires flexibility, just like the field study. 

Helping, Fixing, or Serving

Today I decided to read the "helping, fixing, or serving" article again. I like the article and most of it rings true to me, however I found myself disagreeing with one of the author's points today. She said "serving makes us aware of our wholeness and its power. The wholeness in us serves the wholeness in others". I've never felt more humbled than those times when I want to serve the most. What about the times when you wish you could serve but don't know how? I agree that service is "a relationship between equals" but I don't feel like we are "whole" pieces. We are different pieces of something that is whole, and as we serve together we find another piece to that puzzle. When I think of someone who's whole, I think of someone who always knows what to say and when to say it, or what to do - but I have never met that person. Solutions are found when we work together because we are more complete together. Service is rendered in weakness and God magnifies it.

Word Power

That title sounds like we're about to watch School House Rock but, I'm just going to make this journal an extension of our class discussion. The question Ashley wrote up at the beginning of class reminded me of a presentation by Breanne Ackerman at the Inquiry Conference. Breanne did her project on the importance of translators in Dharamasala, and specifically about what/how people choose to translate. She made the point that people translate the most important messages they want to communicate and how they translate the message can make a major impact on what's understood. She gave the example of Tibetan's using the word "torture" in their translations rather than the word "beaten" or "escaped" in place of the word "run-away". Obviously, the use of different words intensified the meaning of what was being said. There is a definite power in words, and I think the video that was shared in class today shows how quickly our meanings can be altered. I don't know if there is a way to avoid being misunderstood in our everyday interactions on the field study. It's not like you can back-translate everything someone translates for you. Hopefully the more we try to get to know someone, the better we'll both be understood. This things going to be one heck of an adventure.

What do the things we share with people say about who we are? I watched the Voice of Africa on Thursday night and left grateful to have the experience. The guy introducing each song explained that the group drummed and danced to share the pride and joy they felt for their culture. Thursday night I felt that joy and understood that pride because of their decision to share. Their music brought in an incredible spirit wrought with meaning and faith and tradition, thank goodness God made us all different. The message they shared was universally beautiful.

The next night I sat on a plane in the middle of two strangers. One passenger was a 27 year old attorney, the other passenger an electrical engineer. Both were flying home after doing work up in Salt Lake. As we talked it was easy to see how much education meant to this young attorney. She was a hard worker with ambition, but I got the feeling that she was a normal down to earth woman at the same time. The engineer was too cute. He told us about his kids, especially the daughter at UCR who wanted to become a forensics technician like the CSI people. In all likelihood, I will probably never see those people again...but somewhere in Vegas there is a hard working attorney who values education, and in the thick of Burbank there is a family loving dad who's proud of his kids...and that is worth knowing. I like talking to strangers because it's those brief once-in-a-lifetime encounters where people teach you what's really important.  

Revolution

As I watched CNN last night there was a quote that has stuck with me. A number of analysts were discussing what the US should do about the situation in Libya. Benjamin Barber, author of Jihad versus McWorld, was explaining why Libyans didn't want the US to become too involved. In his explanation Barber said, "In the end, people have to make their own revolutions". They were a people fighting for something better, but this movement had to be for their country and not anyone else.

This quote again came to mind today as I was reading about Buddha, hopefully I can explain why. When I think about Siddhartha (Buddha's original name), I picture him beginning as a curious man. I don't think he forsook his old life in order to create the world's next major religion, I just think he wanted to understand his world better. He questioned and searched, and by so doing he did "make [his] own revolution". His revolution ended up effecting millions of people, but that's not always how revolutions turn out. In my mind revolutions are a determination to act, and to act in a way that will change one's circumstance or mentality. In this sense, a revolution can be as large as Siddhartha's or as small as changing one's habits. 

Now you may wonder what this has to do with a field study. That's a fair question which I can only answer for myself. I will be interacting with incoming Tibetan refugees and in many ways I consider these refugees to be in the midsts of their own "revolutions". They come from China, Nepal, Bhutan, and other parts of India, and I assume they come with the desire to change their lives for the better. I will be asking many of them what they feel they need most. In essence, what do they need to finish their revolution? I'm excited to learn the answers because I imagine they will add some "enlightenment" to the revolutions that happen everyday.

Grandpa D

This last weekend I went to visit my Grandpa D and he told me stories. For hours we sat as he entertained me with the past, we even brought out his atlas so he could show me all the places he’s been. I was fascinated to learn how he and my grandma were serving an irrigation mission in Egypt at the time that Sadat was killed and Mubarak took over power. I tried with my might to pick his brain about what it was like, if there was a change in the atmosphere, and any political insights I could get. However he didn’t have too many details to share about Mubarak’s presidency. I began to notice a trend in grandpa’s stories. He remembered people. He remembered the men that he served with in WWII, the boys he played ball with, the professor that inspired him, the kid in his seminary class who was a scripture mastery whiz, and the names of irrigation engineers he’d worked with around the world. That's what amazed me; he’s ninety-one and still remembers their names. I want that out of India, and out of my whole life. History books will record the presidential facts, but they can’t remind you of the people who changed your life. Grandpa reminded me it was the relationships he’d built and the service he’d rendered that made his life beautiful. I hope my research in India is awesome, but thirty years from this experience I hope I can say more of the people I met than the work I did.

Reciprocity

I'm trying to wrap my head around the concept of reciprocity. On the mission this was easy because everything was contracted: we teach, you keep commitments, you feel something, and we teach more. However, how do you give back in a situation where you feel like you have nothing to give? I'm thinking mostly of the field study experience here. I'm going to research, so I will need their time/knowledge, but what will I give back? This question got me thinking about the simplest moments of reciprocity, which made me think of a man I met while jogging yesterday. This man and I had gotten caught at the same intersection, I had obviously been jogging and he was headed across the street to the library, at first we smiled at each other and nodded. After a few seconds I asked him how his day was going, he responded to my question and then nicely told me that the concrete sidewalks are hard on your knees while jogging. We then had a conversation where I learned about optimal jogging surfaces, about how he had completed five marathons, and the injury that was now keeping him from running. It was a great conversation that spanned all of two minutes. This cute little Hispanic man had knowledge to give, and all I had to offer was my attention and gratitude. As meager as my reciprocity was for his knowledge, I knew it still meant something to him. It's like those moments when you meet as strangers, but leave as friends. Time, appreciation, and gratitude are often the kind of reciprocity that builds bridges and motivates us to serve again.