Women, Water, Wonder

Every year, March 8th marks International Women's Day. This weekend has been full of celebrations connected to this day, including a an event called Women and Water Rights.

I attended the symposium (Woman & Water Rights: Global Policy - Local Action) on Thursday and caught two speakers highlighting different narratives within the topic. I've been ruminating on one of the questions asked and the speaker's response.

The question was along the lines of "What is the connection between me and other women around the world, who lead very different lives, and in particular their lives involve so much labor just to obtain water (maybe not even clean) for their families, and we just turn a knob."

For one, you really have to let this question sink into your pores. I wasn't knocked out by it; the experience has been more along the lines of a clamp that gets tighter every round you wind.

The compression has reached a peak; I'm weighed down. Not with guilt, but with a mixture of sorrow and lamenting. Sorrow for their suffering, sorrow for the ease and convenience of my life, and lamenting for the injustice and corruption and the "not rightness" of the world.

I'm weighed down by the beautiful poem that was shared in a response to this thought. The speaker didn't have an answer. She, too, had looked at this question and did not pull out an silver-bullet-development solution. Her poem was full of imagery and carried the same grief.

Maybe it's a grief common to women; even unmarried childless women can share it. I feel like I share in it, as I imagine a Kenyan woman walking 2 miles to gather water and firewood for her family. The grief has a particle of distrust. A particle of anger. A particle of helplessness. A particle of joy. A particle of apathy. A particle of perseverance.

The topic and poem affected me in another way, as I have been working over the weekend taking surveys at a boat show. The survey is for a joint university/state/federal project about public knowledge of invasive species in water as well as boater's habits. There are 7 questions and a blue "shammy" as a thank you. (Repeat xxx times with a smile, and don't take rejection personally).

There are many notable aspects of this new survey experience, but I'll focus on the connection to the topic. Here I am, asking people about their habits and knowledge about water. I'm asking men and women who enjoy water for recreational purposes, and water may also be a big factor in how they make their living. Many of them do not realize the magnitude of the threat of invasive species, and the likelihood that the resources they treasure may degrade from invasive species impact. Yet many people are very responsive and concerned.

Still, water in our lives is at a different than my imaginary friend across the ocean. Water separates us from each other; and yet it is water that unites us all.

I'll conclude this thought with music, another reality that unites us:

"It's the terror of knowing
what this world is about...
watching some good friends scream let me out...
Pray tomorrow - gets me higher
Pressure on people - people on streets....
Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance
Why can't we give love that one more chance
Why can't we give love
Give love give love give love give love
Give love give love give love
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves "
-Under Pressure by Queen

Cry out

She went
and she returned.

She has
cried out
in the night
She has
poured out
her heart
before
the One who sees.

We sat circled
and heard
the story
of another
who cried out
mouthed prayers
was called drunk
and yet did not turn over to despair
And when He came
and answered her prayer--
she gave
to the One who sees.

The One who sees
is who we can go to
when we grieve
when there is nothing to do
but pour out our hearts like water
in his presence.

May Christ's death and resurrection life be such a consolation in Haiti,
but also right here and now.

Because it is his

"Making music is one of the most spiritual things in the world. This is God's language, man, and you don't touch that shit without feeling something bigger than yourselves. If you don't come to terms with that and call it what it is, you're going to have a long fight." -Alan Sparhawk in Vita.mn article by Chris Riemenschneider

Thanks, Alan, for aritculating one of the reasons music is so amazing. Because it is God's language! Music is a big part of my enjoyment of life and my identity... it's so important to me, it brings so much joy. However I think I'm often quite shallow in how I think about it. I want to think more deeply about music, Sparhawk's quote captures some of the Source of the magic and power of music.

When Cobwebs build up...

Lord, sweep aside our false conceptions of You and replace them with true thoughts of who You are. A.W. Tozer

cycle, re

My Arc Value Village e-newsletter included information on recycling: how holistic! I love how their mission benefits people with developmental disabilities by making a market for used goods. Their organizational structure promotes conservation, and now is even promoting more environmental stewardship! The only weak link in this reduce/reuse/recycle chain is that they inherently do not promote "reducing."

I'm pasting in their "Green Corner" which includes items I was not aware of. Enjoy!

GREEN CORNER - Here is a list of items that you can recycle that you might not have heard about:

Styrofoam (large pieces from crates, cartons, furniture, appliances etc.). Must be clean and dry and in bags. Take to the Coon Rapids recycling center but check out the details first on the website to make sure you comply with their requirements. Offer to collect for neighbors too. You don't need to be a resident of Coon Rapids to participate.
Plastic bottle caps. All those plastic bottles have caps (which should NOT go along with the bottles in the recycling bin) which can be saved and taken to your nearest Aveda salon. Aveda will recycle them into bottles for their products.
Mattresses. You can recycle your mattress and/or box spring for $15 each. Don't let this huge item end up in the land fill. The recycler will dismantle it and sell 85% of remaining materials.
Plastics. Recycle #1 and #2 with necks in your regular recycling. Whole Foods will take #5's. Coon Rapids recycling center will take #4, #5 and #6 plastic containers. Just look on the bottom of your plastic container for the number within the recycle triangle.
Packing Peanuts/ Bubble Wrap - Bring to your neighborhood Arc's Value Village Thrift Store and we will reuse. The other option is to check with your nearest UPS store (call first) to see if they won't take your packing peanuts. You can also request a biodegradable packing peanut when you ship. The more that people ask for it, the more likely a merchant is to provide it to you.

Money down

Oh, New Year's resolutions-- to try and fail, or not to try at all? Well, I might just have accomplished my 2009 new year's resolution (one year late!) by creating a budget on Mint.com. Thanks to some recommendations from family and friends, it has turned out to be such an efficient, easy-to-use way of visually tracking income, out-going, and budget categories. Sure beats saving receipts and an excel spreadsheet, which was my 2009 failed attempt.

Cheers to a new year of financial stewardship!

Find a Solace

Logically i knew
part of me needed to sit for awhile
and break.

be still, wonder
what's going through the synapses and neurons
was it all in my mind?

hands up, admit
you can't take a step
or stop the blood from thrusting.

so I'll un-close, my hands to grace
kneel down to the ground face
and accept the buckling.

by K.Kabob and C.Linguine by phone conversation, 2010.

----------------------

What a Friend we have
in Jesus
all our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer
O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you;
you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded
there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship
will be our sweet portion there.

by Joseph Scriven, 1855.