Meals to Haiti, Get Involved

At the end of October, I started working for a non-profit, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC).  FMSC has a simple, but effective model, through which millions of meals are sent around the world to feed children who would otherwise die of starvation or malnutrition-related illnesses.  Volunteers pack the food at permanent packing sites (three in the Twin Cities and one in Aurora, IL) and through FMSC’s MobilePack program which brings the packing project around the country to pack hundreds of thousands or millions of meals in a short amount of time at churches, convention centers and schools.  The food is then shipped to partners in over 60 countries who distribute the food through schools, hospitals, churches and orphanages.  The meal itself was designed specifically to rebuild the bodies of malnourished children, with a vegetarian composition of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a powder that tastes like chicken (but is indeed vegetarian) and carries 20 vitamins and minerals.

While FMSC does send food to over 60 countries, it still sends 40% of the food packed to the first country to receive FMSC donations, Haiti. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but if you are unaware of the catastrophic earthquake that shook Haiti yesterday, take some time to read here or here. Also FMSC was highlighted in various local news articles.  You can read one and watch a video here.  And if you read Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, you might be interested in Kidder’s article.

If you are interested in giving, there are a number of trustworthy organizations already on the ground including Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, and World Vision.  You can also send money to Feed My Starving Children as they seek to pay for all the meals that will be sent to Haiti in the months to come.  If you would like to go beyond giving money, and use your hands, go to fmsc.org to find out how you can volunteer and pack food at one of the sites.  Be mindful and prayerful of the Haitian people as you go about your days.

It Always Takes Us By Surprise

So, let’s start thinking about it today…

November 29 is the first Sunday of Advent.  It’s just a few weeks away.  Watch this video from Advent Conspiracy to get the juices flowing as we consider a different way to do Christmas:

Only Two and a Half Years?

About two and a half years ago I met these beautiful people.  Since then they have become some of my closest friends.  Cheers Jesse, Liz and Calvin. 2007:

2008:
2009:

Did you notice the progression of proximity.  From strangers to bffs.  Beautiful.

For Your Viewing Pleasure, The Polyphonic Spree

Hold Me Now, by The Polyphonic Spree.

I love this song.

A Wind in the Door, by Madeleine L’Engle

A couple years ago, I read A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle.  It’s a delightful book comparable to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.  While written for children/teens, the book has a story, struggles, joys, and a message that people of all ages can relate to.  When I read it, I loved it.  I remember connecting deeply to the imagery of light and darkness that permeate the book.  I read it again this summer.  While I find myself at a different place in which I didn’t feel the same connection, I still loved reading the book a second time, and would recommend it to anyone.

When I finished, I picked up the next book about the characters that L’Engle introduces in A Wrinkle in Time.  A Wind in the Door, shares the same imagination and continues with soul-connecting stories which characterize the first book.  This time, while reading the second book, I felt a similar connection to the story and characters which I felt while reading the first book a few years ago.

There is much to learn from the adventures of a few children who interact with beings from different worlds who help them along their journey.  What stands out most to me in this book, though, is the concept of naming.  As Meg, the protagonist, goes through various trials, she is told that she is called to be a “namer.”  There are those she comes into contact with whom she is led to “name,” or to speak the truth of who others are into their lives.  In one trial she is required to sift through various clones (it is science fiction after all) of someone in her life she despises, Mr. Jenkins.  She has to discover the true Mr. Jenkins, to name him and in naming him, save him.  Through naming him, Meg learns, and is required, to love him.

As I read, it occurred to me that this is what life is all about.  All life?  My life?  I don’t know.  Maybe it is because I feel connected to this that I would say all of life.  Maybe I am one of those namers.  Whatever the case, I feel led to name people, to speak the truth about who they are into their lives, who they are as children of God, what they are gifted and called to do as they participate in God’s work in the world, and through it all, learn to love them.  For we can only name people in love.  When hate is involved, we misname people, and through that may destroy a little bit of that person and ourselves.  When we name, though, people are given a sense of who they are, beautifully made children of God, given the opportunity to serve God and the world. I love this image.  I want to be like Meg.  I want to be a namer.

Cultural Adjustments

Or, things I do or ways I respond, because I am used to doing that in Nepal.  Such things may cause embarrassment or just make me feel confused about the proper way of doing things here in the states.

1. Using my fingers more often than the average bear, while eating food.  This includes wiping my finger along the side of a bowl to lick it clean of yogurt.  Clearly, stemming not only from a common use of eating with fingers, but also from the need to clear every crumb/dollop of food left.

2. Touching my left hand to my right arm while giving gifts, money, etc.

3. Getting excited when receiving bills less than $20, forgetting that getting small bills is never a problem here, unlike Nepal, where people scoff when you hand them a thousand rupee note for a 65 rupee item.

Side Note: I was watching 30 Rock the other day, and saw an episode where Liz gave a store owner a $100 bill for something like a bottle of water.  The store clerk refused to take it and Liz angrily argued that it’s actually illegal not to take it.  A $100 bill is, in fact, “Legal Tender For All Debts, Public and Private,”  reminding me of my Macroeconomics professor who suggested that if a business refuses to take a U.S. dollar bill, that their goods are free for the taking.  I’m not sure to what extent that is true, maybe entirely.  Anyway, it also made me think of Nepal, where clerks would refuse my bill, not wanting to give me change.  If I didn’t have change they would lose business.  I sometimes left irritated, thinking, “This is a business.  Do you want my money?  Go to the bank, and get some change.”  Of course, it doesn’t work that way, hence the excitement when I can break a “large” bill.

4. Shaking Hands.  The other night was just a moment of confusion for me.  I saw a guy at the Velvet Lapelles concert, whom I had met a couple days before.  I awkwardly stepped forward and shook his hand, ignoring the people he was with, mostly because I was trying to rack my brain of what the right step was in the U.S.  I was thinking of Nepal, where you shake the hand of every man in the room, whether or not you know them.  And I thought, “Is handshaking what we do in the U.S.?”  Clearly, it is completely normal, but sometimes, especially these days, I forget what is normal.

5. Picking your nose in public.  Totally normal in Nepal.  Oh yeah, not so in the states.

Charles Schwab Just Reimbursed My ATM Fees

When I moved to Nepal, I opened up a Charles Schwab bank account, because Wells Fargo charges $5.00 for each international ATM withdrawal.  Charles Schwab charges…. $0.00.  Not only that, but now that I’m back in the states, I’ve used a few random ATM’s at gas stations that charge $2.00 for using their machines.  What does Charles Schwab do?  He reimburses it.  Thanks Chuck.

What Minnesota Has To Offer…

Among other things, is some great music.  Here’s some Minnesota bred musicians I saw live this weekend:

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles:

Brother Ali:

Unbelievably Kickin Music/Beatboxing

A couple videos I’ve been pointed to recently:

The first, Xavier Rudd on the didjeridoo:

And then Nathan “Flutebox” Lee:

Cloud Cult

I went to a concert recently that was one of the best experiences I’ve had in quite some time. Cloud Cult, whose video I posted recently, played at the Cabooze in Minneapolis. Besides including a violin, cello, and keys (my favorite instruments) in their band, they had two painters create works of art throughout the show, paintings they auctioned off after the concert. The aesthetic beauty of the paintings added to an already incredible experience. And that’s what it was, an experience. What Cloud Cult created was much more than a performance. It was a creation of beauty and joy, and one which invited everyone to participate. It was a time of connection offering a sense of belonging, even for a couple hours, with each person gathered, taking part. While there I felt a contentment and gladness that I have not felt in a long time. I felt privileged to be there.

Cloud Cult is on a break for a while, with the lead singer and one of the painters having a baby. But when they’re back, I’d recommend seeing them. I can’t promise you’ll have the same experience I did.  You probably won’t.  But I’m sure they won’t disappoint.

Thank you, Cloud Cult, for pouring yourselves into your creation, and inviting us to join you.