Camera Obscura
If you’ve ever gotten the chance to sleep inside a “tin shack”, or a structure with walls and a roof of corrugated steel, you may have learned pretty quickly how the thin walls don’t separate you very well from what’s going on outside. In this case, immediately outside the room I’m describing is a dusty street, and although I am inside the room I can hear conversations from people outside my room talking late into
read onThe Contrast
The plunge into the world of poverty is palpable. You feel it, as sharply as a sudden dousing of cold water or a plunge into a cold pool. The jolt is particularly strong nowadays because most aspects of our lives are arranged in ways so as to exclude or hide away the discomfort of dealing with the strain and injustice that poverty reminds us of.
Entering La Carpio felt that way… like I was, yet again,
read onEnvironmental Justice, comma
It is exhilarating to visit the Quetzal Educational Research Center (QERC) because I feel my heart “strangely warmed,” to hear all the lectures and interesting topics they are learning. I pour over the books in the library, too, several different “ology” sections, journals of research, field guides to animal identification – and my favorite, the sections on culture, history, environmental stewardship, and the “care of creation.” Here, actually situated in a tropical cloud
read onBurn the old year to the ground and start out new
It’s 1:05 A.M., January 1, 2011. Once again I am here as a guest in the house of AM.
My short times here exhaust me inexplicably quickly. Today was better. I actually prayed – God give me energy, help me to not be so tired, and to be able to eat everything. There was no rice, and my body is sick of rice, so I was OK. It was so good, actually. And it actually does
read onChristmas in the slums, field notes
It’s about 5:45 A.M., morning of Christmas Day, and gray dawn light is starting to illuminate the cracks and holes in the tin walls. The morning is quiet, and I quite enjoy the tranquil afterglow to last night’s ruckus in the streets, the persistent reggeton and club music from across the street punctuated, until I fell asleep at about 1 A.M., with the crack of firecrackers, bottlerockets, and the hiss of roman candles. The persistent
read onProtected: Thank you, Gramma, for dying well
What's gramma's characteristic phrase to express frustration? read onThe Celebration of Discipline
I wake up this morning having just finished The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. This is my second time reading through this amazing book, and although this time I didn’t have the thrill of encountering something new and unexpectedly moving, I had the feeling of revisiting an old friend, of catching up and taking tabs on how I’ve been doing.
And now, having finished the book, I wake up and I feel a sense of
read onAmazing Grace – The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation
This book (along with the sequel by the same author) was our required reading for an on-line class in Race, Gender, and Class in Education. Quite impacting, to say the least. Here are a few quotes from the book that stuck with me. Some are from the author; most are from people he interviews in the South Bronx or Mott Haven, New York.
On my list of most impacting writers, including Brueggemann, Richard Foster, Dostoyevsky, etc…,
read onBuya Best Buy
If you ever visit my Adams grandparents house on 616 Chestnut, you will see a cool little digital picture frame with photos cycling through on it. It’s quite large – a 14-inch screen. And if you look closer, you will see that a mouse runs out in front of it,
read onEnrolling in Portable U
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| Paperless study. C’mon, you know you can do it. |