Christina in China

More quotes.  Here we are:

“The more often [a person] feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.” -C. S. Lewis

“I’ve found that it’s relatively easy to raise a voice in protest, but unfathomably hard to invest in a life.”

and also…

“When did you last spend time with a poor person, an at-risk individual, or someone in need? When was the last time you were close to them for an extended period? I ask, because that’s what Jesus did. He was close to the poor who needed justice. The Messiah was sent to preach Good News to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, release for the oppressed, and the arrival of the Jubilee year (Luke 4:18-19). He did this first by becoming incarnate, one of us. He did not commute from heaven in a fiery chariot. “The Word became flesh,” says John, “and made his dwelling among us.

In urban ministry circles, we call this relocation. Many urban ministers intentionally live in the neighborhoods they seek to serve. Proximity builds trust with neighbors, especially if a racial divide must be crossed. Relocation also helps urban ministers discern the roots of need. A man may ask me every day for money. He’s down and out, he says. But if I live in that community, I’ll be able to discern if he is down and out because of systemic injustice or because he does not want to work. Then I’ll be able to share with him what he truly needs.

People in need of justice are not just in the inner city. Individuals and families are struggling in suburban and rural settings as well. In many cases, you do not need to relocate in order to meet a need. But when working for justice, it is crucial to have personal proximity to injustice.

Up close, the protest-oriented injustice-fighter may discover that some matters are best settled by a personal intervention, not a new law. The personal-responsibility injustice-fighter may discover that impersonal systems often devastate the lives of the poor, and that these systems must indeed be protested.

In either case, the best way to get closer to doing justice for the poor is, quite simply, to get closer.”

-Rudy Carrasco, from this article

 

I’ve been looking at some Master’s degree programs recently, some in peace studies/conflict resolution and some in international or urban economic development.  And I’ve also been thinking so much about the importance of dwelling together with people.  With actually knowing people, not just knowing about them or their problems.  Or how to “fix” their problems.  The longer I live, the more I don’t think protesting is the answer.  I think it can be a solution to some problems.  But I feel like I have to root myself in relationship…

I’ve also been thinking about hospitality.  What does it mean?  What is good hospitality?  In the Bamboo Sea (in Yibin, southern Sichuan) this weekend, my students’ families bought me gifts.  Way too many gifts, in my opinion.  They stuffed me with food, delicious food, and toasted me constantly.  They bought my tickets to sights and took me to eat local food.  They washed my clothes when they were dirty, and, heck, bought me a pair of underwear and a towel without being asked, because they thought I might need it.  I was in the honored laoshi role (and, for the record, it makes me more than a bit uncomfortable to get this many gifts) and definitely couldn’t take all of this for more than about five days.  To these families, I was doing a huge favor by teaching their kids English. 

China isn’t always this over-the-top.  But there’s a definite sense of hospitality, that I often find wonderful and sometimes find incredibly fatiguing.  Of the fact that people don’t need to call–they can just drop in.  Another bowl and pair of chopsticks will be found.  Tea or hot water will be poured, fruit or some little snack (if it’s there) will be given.  I’ve also been reading a book Tommy Warf gave me before I came to China, about four guys that traveled the world supporting local Christians.  It’s good.  More evangelical than the stuff I normally read but good.  A big theme of the book is about this, about community and hospitality and what that means.  Things that I know are important but that I don’t quite know what they are yet….And yet it’s on my mind, these thoughts.  Of ministering beside, thoughts that I started having sophomore year with my international lit class and kept having throughout talks with MCCers, short times in Buffalo during my Houghton time, time with the kids at church, a couple memorable chapel talks at Houghton, Menno Groupers, and now through books and life.

Where will I be in ten years?  Perhaps not in the middle-class suburbs, not that there’s anything wrong with that.  Will I have the chance to be serving overseas somewhere?  Or maybe in the inner-city or rural communities (I’ve also been thinking a lot about rural Appalachia and “my roots” of late)?  Who knows.

Sorry.  All this rambling.  Later, I promise I’ll tell stories about all the bamboo, toasting, and food of this weekend…

Tags: Quotes, Travel

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 7th, 2006 at 7:18 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.