Tonight is the third night of Passover, and ironically I thought it might be interesting to go to a Christian worship service. I've never been to one in my life (it was really a coincidence that tonight was Passover), and was curious.
A friend in my dorm goes to Taize every week. It's a form of meditative worship. We sang songs, had periods of silence, sang more songs, etc. It was an amazing experience.
My favorite part was a special period of silent meditation, in which you had the opportunity to pray aloud, if you were moved to do so. It was amazing to hear everyone's prayers as we sat in a circle around a ring of candles, light streaming through stained glass all around us.
I hope others who have the opportunity to try this will do so--it really was amazing!
Happy Passover and Easter! (and other holidays going on at this time of which I am not aware!)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Sunshine and Laughing Clubs
This has been a peculiar weekend. An almost-shutdown of the government (thank goodness that didn't happen!!), an interview and an audition, a date, and my psych textbook.
Today happens to be the first sunny, warm day in a very, very long time. Unfortunately tomorrow promises thunderstorms, but it's good to appreciate the sun while it's here, right?
Of course, most of today will be focused on getting as much work done as possible before a date with my first-ever boyfriend tonight (eep!), but I think my psych textbook actually provided some valuable lessons today. (I don't usually appreciate my psych textbook, as the chapters are long, redundant, and sometimes ungrammatical, but today is an exception.) The chapter was on healthy living, so obviously it talked about smoking, obesity, drinking, etc. But it's a psych textbook--it has to talk about the behavior associated with these things too, of course.
And then it talked about how being happy actually can lead to a longer life. And people have established laughing clubs--where people literally spend time laughing--to promote health and happiness. I think that whoever came up with the concept is a genius and we should all join a laughing club.
Happy Sunny-day! (hehe...sorry, bad pun.)
Today happens to be the first sunny, warm day in a very, very long time. Unfortunately tomorrow promises thunderstorms, but it's good to appreciate the sun while it's here, right?
Of course, most of today will be focused on getting as much work done as possible before a date with my first-ever boyfriend tonight (eep!), but I think my psych textbook actually provided some valuable lessons today. (I don't usually appreciate my psych textbook, as the chapters are long, redundant, and sometimes ungrammatical, but today is an exception.) The chapter was on healthy living, so obviously it talked about smoking, obesity, drinking, etc. But it's a psych textbook--it has to talk about the behavior associated with these things too, of course.
And then it talked about how being happy actually can lead to a longer life. And people have established laughing clubs--where people literally spend time laughing--to promote health and happiness. I think that whoever came up with the concept is a genius and we should all join a laughing club.
Happy Sunny-day! (hehe...sorry, bad pun.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
On Beliefs and Who should be Dying for them
I must have been out of the news for quite some time, because I only just heard about the burning of the Koran on March 20th. And it is sickening. Pastor Jones of Gainesville, FL held a mock trial that ended in the burning of the Islamic Holy Book. And that led to uprisings in Afghanistan. Here's the NY-times article I read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/us/03burn.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=quran%20burning&st=cse
Look: I know people can believe what they want; we live in the US, a free country. But shouldn't burning the book of another religion count as a hate crime? I'm wondering why this guy is going around with police protection instead of being put on trial himself. If burning crosses on people's lawns is a hate crime, burning a holy book should be, too.
And it gets worse.
Jones said he made his decision after considering that people might react strongly. He said they were worried. And yet he did it anyway, and he would do it again.
It's one thing to put your own life at risk for your beliefs, but to put other people's lives--the lives of people you don't know and who don't agree with you--at risk...that's bad judgment and cruelty. I'm not saying that the Afghans who killed the UN staff are right--not at all. But if you know that people might die because of something you do to 'stir the pot,' it shouldn't be done unless they're willing to die for your cause.
The one good thing that resulted is that people are changing the anti-Islamic signs outside the church to slogans about peace and love. Thank you, reason.
Look: I know people can believe what they want; we live in the US, a free country. But shouldn't burning the book of another religion count as a hate crime? I'm wondering why this guy is going around with police protection instead of being put on trial himself. If burning crosses on people's lawns is a hate crime, burning a holy book should be, too.
And it gets worse.
Jones said he made his decision after considering that people might react strongly. He said they were worried. And yet he did it anyway, and he would do it again.
It's one thing to put your own life at risk for your beliefs, but to put other people's lives--the lives of people you don't know and who don't agree with you--at risk...that's bad judgment and cruelty. I'm not saying that the Afghans who killed the UN staff are right--not at all. But if you know that people might die because of something you do to 'stir the pot,' it shouldn't be done unless they're willing to die for your cause.
The one good thing that resulted is that people are changing the anti-Islamic signs outside the church to slogans about peace and love. Thank you, reason.
Friday, April 1, 2011
On Finishing
Well, I have at last finished the novel I was working on.
It's a strange feeling: at once very, very excited and at the same time empty. Because I finished telling the story.
I don't know if other authors feel this way when they finish something. Maybe other authors are better about jumping into something new or getting on revising/editing. I should get on that myself....
Either way, it's a funny feeling.
It's a strange feeling: at once very, very excited and at the same time empty. Because I finished telling the story.
I don't know if other authors feel this way when they finish something. Maybe other authors are better about jumping into something new or getting on revising/editing. I should get on that myself....
Either way, it's a funny feeling.
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