From 9 am on Tuesday to 9 am on Wednesday the Honors class had a scheduled fast. I chose to fast from food because 1) out of all the worldly/physical things in my life that I rely on/use on a daily basis, food would be the most difficult for me to be without 2) I thought that experiencing hunger would give me greater empathy for those who don’t have food for days on end and 3) the spiritual connection associated with fasting in the bible.
The experience of fasting could be connected to multiple activities over the semester (since generally poverty is related to hunger) but the strongest connection would be to the hunger simulation. The hunger simulation experience in itself was frustrating just because of time, planning, and forms-and we were college kids acting the part. We didn’t really have kids running around or empty bellies. It was stressful as it was, but by adding in some of the things that I experienced due to lack of food (like the crankiness and lack of energy) it makes the simulation more realistic.
Sadly, I didn’t experience everything that I was hoping I would in participating in the fast. Going without lunch was fairly easy, and dinner wasn’t too bad either. Aside from a slight headache and the fact that my eyes weren’t focusing as well, I wasn’t too affected. That is, at least, until I was sleeping. I woke up several times in the night quite uncomfortable and quite hungry. Although I’ve been told that the second day is easier, I wasn’t feeling the best on Wednesday morning. I was lightheaded and shaky, so I decided it was time for food at 9:30. I was going to try to make it to the Lord’s Supper and eat after that, but sometimes in choir I get light headed as it is with the low breathing, and I figured fainting in chapel wasn’t the best plan.
I don’t feel I got as much spiritually out of fasting as I had hoped. Whenever I would have been eating meals, I went to the chapel to pray. However, I didn’t have any spiritual “ah ha” moments or other such things that people speak about. Granted, I did have a full 5 hours of distraction during dinner time; I was able to go and see Grapes of Wrath (which was very interesting and completely related, but it also served to take my mind of things). For me, fasting was almost a test of mental willpower versus spiritual reliance-food was defiantly available, but it was just convincing myself not to eat or want to eat. But, I think if I fasted for multiple days, then it would be much more of a spiritual experience versus mental. It was interesting to me, though, that when I was hungry or tired, it did help to pray and read the bible. In fact, at night when I couldn’t sleep, and that was the worst, I’d start singing hymns or liturgy and that’s what would lull me back to sleep.
Empathy is probably what hit me the strongest after fasting. I don’t really think my mood changed much the first day without food, but the next morning I had absolutely zero energy, to do anything-all I wanted to do was sleep, and I defiantly had to act and put on a “I’m doing just fine and dandy” face. And I only didn’t eat for one day. As a working adult, you can see that it’s not necessarily that people are lazy or slow, they really just have no energy to do anything because they don’t have food.
February 2007 Archives
This morning, instead of going to our regular churches, the class was told to attend a service that took place in an impoverished area. Some of us decided to attend the church we had visited yesterday, Trinity First Lutheran in Minneapolis. The church service took place in the basement (instead of where it typically took place, which was in the sanctuary) because of heat issues. The church service lasted about an hour, and consisted of contemporary music, hymns, sermon, prayers, and communion. Although the church itself was in the most diverse region in the US, the congregation was fairly small (consisting of about 30-40 members) and was made up of almost entirely Caucasian senior citizens (this doesn’t represent the people in the community who the church serves in their outreach and in their school).
Obviously, this experience can be connected to yesterday when we met with the pastor and he spoke to us about the community and about his church. He was explaining to us how he would like the congregation to grow and expand, but that as complicated as the issues are in the neighborhood, including how it’s such a gateway neighborhood, he may have to change his expectations about his congregation and the way that he defines success in his ministry.
I really enjoyed the church service today. Granted, I wasn’t so keen on the music (I’m a very traditional hymn type of gal) but I really liked the message of the sermon. It was based of the scripture passage that teaches blessed are the poor, hungry, and worn, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The other half of the scripture was a warning to the rich, saying that they had already received their award. Since I have led a very privileged life, I definitely felt somewhat out of place and like the second half of the scripture applied more to me than the first. But, the people of the congregation identified with the first. The reason they were down in the basement instead of the sanctuary was because it was warmer, so obviously there were issues with heating the building. The music was not nearly as beautiful as it could have been, because the piano was horrendously out of tune. The sermon about poverty, the pursuit of happiness, and everlasting reward was addressed to, and related to, the people sitting that congregation.
Today the honors class participated in an activity titled “Walking the Streets (an urban experience).” We took the bus to the light rail, when we got off we met Pastor Jacob Gillard, and then walked to rest of the way to his church (Trinity First Lutheran in Minneapolis). Along the way, he talked to us about residents of the neighborhood (including all the immigration and the diversity), some stories regarding the poverty of the neighborhood, and then the improvements and charity organizations in the neighborhood. At his church, a DCE talked with us and we were able to ask questions about the church, school, and neighborhood in general. After that, it was back to the bus and school.
This experience could be connected to Dress Lodger. The point of today was that by walking the streets, we would be able to make observations about the economic state of the neighborhood. In Dress Lodger, by the vivid descriptions of the setting, anyone walking down the street would easily be able to make observations about the impoverished area.
I really didn’t find the experience today that helpful. First of all, it was absolutely freezing, and even though I was very bundled up, it’s very difficult to focus on academic things when one is merely trying to stop shaking and get feeling back in their toes and legs. When we were walking, some buildings were pointed out and they were briefly described (mostly showing the diversity of the organizations that reached out to the multiple ethnic groups) along with enhanced/improved security features. However, this wasn’t really that interesting. I think it would have been much better if we could have gone into some of the buildings, talked to some of the volunteers, or volunteered in some way ourselves-we would have been more involved, and that’s more what I was expecting out of today. It’s true we did talk to the DCE at Trinity First, and there was some good information provided, but I was expecting to see more outside and in other buildings as well. Otherwise, all the information we learned (building/organizations and such that were pointed out) could have just been told to us in a lecture setting in a room that wasn’t freezing. There were interesting facts (such as added security cameras, most diverse city area, 130 {I think} charity organizations) but I don’t entirely understand why we had to walk to see these things. It would be like walking down in Washington DC and not going into any of the museums. I don’t know if I learned what I was supposed to, but, due to the fact that my main focus was to stay warm (that may have been part of the reason I didn’t learn that much) I did learn something that was related, but probably not the main focus, of today’s activity. I have to say, that after walking/being mostly outside for 3-4 hours in negative temperatures, I have an even more empathetic approach to the homeless, because I was frozen, and I don’t see how they can stand it, especially when they’re not well clothed to begin with.
The simulation today placed us into the shoes of individuals who, in reality, would need food assistance by relying on food shelves and food stamps. Each person was given a profile with a brief summary of their life and situation. From there you worked with your partner figuring how much money you had to spend for each day (after calculating all that months expenses), what food you could purchase for the small amount of cash you then did have, how many meals you could get for free, and (if you could get the form filled out) if you and your partner qualified for food stamps. Personally, I had emigrated with my husband (who was sitting next to me) from Mexico six years ago. Although both my husband and I had jobs and we had no children, after all the months expenses (including our car breaking down) were factored into our monthly paychecks there wasn’t enough money to buy all the recommended calories for each day.
The situations of the people that we were portraying today reminded me of Gustine in The Dress Lodger. Gustine is an incredibly hard working person. She is doing all she can in her current situation to take care of herself and her child. She works two jobs (one that she refuses to consider herself as) merely to survive. But it just seems as hard as she’s trying, things just keep working against her, she can’t seem to get ahead-that is, at least, until the very end, if you believe the foretelling of the future by the Eye (which you really should because it’s the Eye-it’s all seeing…but anyways…). The people in the simulation today were the same: even though they were working and trying to make ends meet, by the time they factored everything in, they just couldn’t do it. There is a really excellent (and really moving) movie based on a true story that recently came out called The Pursuit of Happiness that correlates very strongly to the simulation today.
I liked the simulation today because it showed the variety of people who need food assistance. Although in some cases their lack of food may have been results of previously bad decisions (obviously there are people who misuse the system) but, at the same time, there are people who really do need assistance due to no fault of their own. One couples’ profile talked about both people having jobs and living a fairly good life until the husband got laid off-then everything then fell apart. I too believe that everyone has the right to eat. People need help to get through bad times. But I also believe that it’s important to fix the situations that are causing people to seek help and to help people help themselves out of their situation, improving their life so it hopefully won’t happen again.
A benefit concert of Verdi’s Requiem was preformed on January 22 at Carnegie Hall for all those involved in the Darfur conflict. The funds raised will be used for critical humanitarian relief, recovery, and advocacy efforts. Yet the concert was given not only to raise money, but to highlight the plight of Darfur through the power of music, stirring our understanding across cultures and connecting us to our fellow human beings. “As with the greatest works of art, this music expresses the eternal yearning of the human soul to be consoled and rescued in the face of death, regardless of religion, race, gender, age or anything else. There is no more fitting way for us in the musical community to give voice to the acute need, fear, suffering, and hope, of the victims, survivors and refugees of this catastrophe in Darfur,” George Matthew, artistic director. As we were listening to a recording of this concert in class, each student was asked to select 3-4 images that we had found online that we thought were represented by the music. After all 16 students submitted, we watched the slideshow of photographs while listening to the closing movements of the Requiem.
Obviously, connecting photos to music correlates with the photography sessions that we have been having this past week. Photographs strongly communicate to their viewers. Music also strongly expresses and communicates something to its listener. Although we perhaps can not pinpoint what exactly was happening or what the composer preciously intended when he wrote the piece, we can still understand the universal truths it reveals: love, happiness, pain, suffering, death, etc. In this particular situation, we knew what the piece connected to (at this point in time was used to represent the conflict in Darfur). By connecting our knowledge of the conflict along with music to represent that conflict, along with images that connected both the knowledge and the music together, the presentation was powerful and effective.
It’s sad to say that I am not nearly as informed on the genocide occurring in Darfur as I should be; such an incredibly important issue that I haven’t given serious study, time, or energy to. I really enjoyed the activity today because, as a musician, I truly do believe in the power of music, and once again today, that point was proven; music is the universal language that speaks to ones soul. Typically when I listen to music I close my eyes because they distract me, but today, by watching the slideshow while listening, there was an even stronger connection to what the music was saying. If we would have had more time to compile the pictures, I think it would have been even more powerful to connect the right picture with the right moment in time with the music-but then again, for each person that may have differed in their interpretations. That’s another beauty of music-it speaks to each of us individually and collectively.
