Justice, Race, and Trayvon Martin's Short Life

I've very purposely kept my opinions about the verdict off of Facebook.  Awhile back I made a deliberate decision to make my facebook mostly apolitical, as a personal preference, I just didn't want to engage in controversial debates there anymore, I don't have the interest in it like I used to.

This week may have been an exception, but I've had such a hard time figuring out what I think and how I feel, that I knew it wasn't ready for facebook consumption.  But today I've read two things that really touched me, that really articulated what I think:

One is from a United Methodist Blog: http://umcconnections.org/2013/07/19/white-privilege-and-the-trayvon-martin-case/?utm_content=buffer07005&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

The other was from President Obama.  I disagree with him more these days than before, but I could tell he had this case on his mind and in his heart all week and finally figured out what he wanted to say, and I wholeheartedly agreed with it.  Here is a link to the transcript:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-obamas-remarks-on-trayvon-martin-full-transcript/2013/07/19/5e33ebea-f09a-11e2-a1f9-ea873b7e0424_print.html

The truth is, the experience as a black person is different.  The experience for a black man is even more different, and difficult.  And agree or disagree with the verdict, Trayvon Martin was a victim of that. These laws that justify deadly force in these situations are applied unequally to the detriment of African Americans. And what makes is so sad, is that meaningful change on these issues moves so slowly, too slowly for many.

So many of my black peers have stories of being profiled, from Stanford students, to law professors, even I have my own story and experience with police officers.  What's sad about Trayvon Martin's death is that it's just another example of that, with a horrible consequence.

And while I understand the verdict, I can't help but feel sad that a life was taken at the hands of another, without any meaningful consequence (yet) for the man who, admittedly made the choice to engage him with a gun, when he should have just stayed in his car.

I could go into more issues related to the case but I'd like to leave it at that.

Oh, and on a related issue, read this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/questions-haunt-family-of-man-with-down-syndrome-who-died-in-police-custody/2013/07/18/693d4c2a-eef6-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_story.html
I can't even begin to articulate how angry and upset this continues to make me - I really have no words.

Facebook

Being without Facebook for Lent has actually been an interesting study on how I and my friends depend on it.  I have had to jump back on my account for information a few times so far.  Each time, I promptly go on, find the information I'm looking for, look at a few news feed items (I can't help it), then re-deactivate my account.

The first time, I was looking for someone's contact information for a family member, someone I didn't know but I thought I might find on Facebook.   I've had at least one person ask Curtis where I went.  Just today, I wanted to make sure that someone hadn't put something on Facebook before I contacted them.  It's hard when you're so active on Facebook - friends (including me) depend on the information that is there.  It's just assumed that when you post something, all of your friends find out about it.  I've had to tell at least one friend to make sure to email me when something big happens in their life (today - medical residencies are announced) - because I won't find out on Facebook.

Aside from that, I actually haven't missed it much.  I don't yearn for the information - I continue to get the news I'm interested in on Twitter.  But I'm looking forward to my return so I can see everyone's baby pictures and other family news. I'm looking forward to sharing pictures from Juls' wedding and seeing the other pictures people post. And I'm looking forward again to being able to share my own commentary on current events and discuss these issues (serious and silly) with my friends.

St Patrick's Day in New Orleans

I drove to New Orleans and back today to spend the day with my good friend Samantha (who was in town from Montreal) and her mom. We started the day by going to church at Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church in New Orleans, a beautiful old church that had sustained 5 million dollars in damages from Katrina but had since rebuilt, and is a beautiful facility.

After church we headed over to a crawfish boil! Yes I tried it but it was just okay - I'm not a big fan of seeing the eyes on my food before I eat it. But the location was perfect - it was located along the St Patrick's day parade route! So we spent some time catching throws of course. Here are the pics!












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40 (ish) Days without Facebook

I do not generally like to publicize what I am giving up for Lent, and I don't always give something up for Lent, but this year I decided to give up Facebook and since that I means I will be MIA on a site that many of you are used to seeing me on, I thought I'd provide some notice.

It is always challenging for me to decide if and what I am going to give up.  As a Christian, I place much of my own theological emphasis on the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Or, as I jokingly tell my friends, I'm a "New Testament Christian."  My favorite holiday has always been Easter, but I think it can mean so much more when I place focus on the Lenten Period and Good Friday.

My philosophy about the practice of giving something up for Lent is it:

1. Has to be something that affects me on a daily basis (or at least every few days).
2. Is something that I can realistically give up, depending on current circumstances (I decided that giving up a food would not be a good idea this year since I am in an active period of losing weight and could use all options).
3. Is not something that, by giving it up, benefits me. So for example, I personally would not give up things like cookies or chocolate, or sweets, only because I think that is essentially a diet, not a lenten ritual.  It's not about benefiting from eating more healthily, it's about suffering in some way to be closer to God.  Granted, some may say that giving up Facebook has the added benefit of making me more productive.  Today has already demonstrated that the time I am not on Facebook will not likely be added to my productive time, but rather to my unproductive time.

Facebook is not an ideal sacrifice, but I think it serves my three requirements well enough.  I enjoy the ability to be connected to friends and family and much of the news I read comes from Facebook, so I will definitely miss it.  I will not observe the Sabbath breaks, by my own personal preference.

So, long story short, for those of you who may wonder where I disappeared to, I will be back on Facebook on April 8th, and will continue to be on Twitter, Blogger, Pinterest (although that has already fizzled for me) and email throughout the lenten period.

In looking for something to add at the end of this post about Lent, and it's significance to me, I found this article that I appreciated, that included the following:

"The journey of Lent always leads up a hill to a cross. There is no other route. Lent is a time to test our willingness to walk boldly with Jesus; to give up distorted goals; to 'die' to old ways and reject new temptations; to steadfastly look beyond the cross, confident that God's love in Jesus Christ 'lives' in us, and through us, and takes hope into the future."

First Sunday at Church

I finally went to church last Sunday! I went to Spanish Fort United Methodist Church. Growing up in the UMC, I'd love to be able to just transfer membership to a UMC here, but I'm also very open to many different kinds of churches. This church actually has services taking place simultaneously at two locations, a traditional service and a contemporary service. The pastors seem to rotate around the services. I found myself at the contemporary, which was nice, but I'm used to traditional services so I'll try that as well.

It was similar to a modern UMC service in CA - it was a little over an hour, and there was praise music (although not much singing by the congregation, and the songs were good!). And the sermon was on the Good Samaritan, so pretty standard, not controversial. My biggest concern in finding a church is that it not be too conservative. So far so good. This church seems particularly dedicated to service, which is something that I liked. I picked up a newsletter on my way out, and thought it was funny to see a Nick Saban (head football coach at Alabama) reference in the Pastor's article.

One thing that I loved being there for was a baby's Baptism - it's hard for me to go to church here because this is a mostly independent endeavor for me - I know practically everyone at my church in Mission Viejo, and so being by myself in a new place with no one I know was a little tough. But to see that Baptism, to think back on camp in August, when we reflected on our baptism, really helped me to connect with God and to find purpose in what I'm doing in trying to find a church here. It made me realize that while it's important to find a congregation that I will feel comfortable with, I also need to remember that that is inferior to my need to have a relationship with God and to worship God. I think it took some of the pressure off, and I think it will make the process a little easier.

I haven't decided where I will go this weekend, possibly back to Spanish Fort UMC, or possibly Daphne UMC - we'll see! 

Camp: July 31-Aug 6

As I've probably mentioned before, one of my favorite parts of summer when I was in high school was spending a week at Lazy W Ranch for our [United Methodist] church district's Senior High Camp (entering 9th grade - exiting 12th). In 2007 I was able to serve on the Staff as a counselor, and this was the first year I was able to do it again.

Overall, it was a tiring, but great week. Our kids were awesome. They were so willing to share from the very beginning, and had so much enthusiasm during our worship throughout the week. It's neat too because one of the deans in charge of the camp was a counselor when I was a camper, and our music/worship leader was also there back then (Matt Neely) so to be able to do camp with both of them was fantastic. My cabin was so fun, I loved all of our girls, and my "family group" (small group) was also wonderful, so vocal and so fun.

Cabin 9!

My Family Group!

 For me, it was also a great way for me to reconnect with God after a very challenging three years in law school. It made me realize going forward that it would be really important for me to build on this week to try and revitalize my spirit and my relationship with God. I am so far behind what I was when I was the campers' age, and not because I was purposefully disconnecting with God, but rather because I allowed all of life's distractions to get in the way. One of my goals as part of my new life in Alabama will be to find a church where I'm comfortable, join a bible study, and try to worship more frequently.

In other news, I need to decide what to do about facebook. I had a personal 500 friend limit, mostly as a way to make sure that everyone I was friends with I cared to see what they were up to now and again, and to give me a schedule for re-evaluating. Now that camp has produced an influx of friends, I have to decide whether to let the limit go for now or try to get back down to 500. I'll probably wait until I have a chunk of time to work on it. :-)