Category: Fall 2017

Identities, Assumptions, and Empathy

“Here I am, my identity in the collection of stories that inspire and drive me. Here I am, another paintbrush in the great canvas of Boston University. Here I am, my biology telling a story: I am Hispanic and the language in my biology carried by generations of farmers and workers who lived in Colombia. […]

Homeward Bound

Last week, I had the privilege of attending a film screening of a new documentary entitled “Whose Streets?” followed by an outstanding panel discussion featuring one of the filmmakers, Damon Davis, rapper Tef Poe, and professors from the sociology and history departments and the School of Theology and Social Work. The film is about the […]

Piano Lessons

Today I gave a friend a piano lesson. She had talked about wanting to learn for awhile and eventually she asked me to help her out, and I agreed. As I sat explaining the basics of the instrument and musical notation, I felt a stream of memories rush into my conscience. Surprisingly, most of the […]

Bitter Cold Psalms

This semester in Sojourn, we have been playing around with various different ideas and practices in community, in contemplation, in service, and in discussion. This week, we did a contemplation of a kind similar to journaling, and we read a few Psalms. Our current section of Cadres, or Sojourn meetings, have been revolving around themes […]

Enemy

We all face problems that aren’t presented to the world every second of the day, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Sometimes these problems can be external and come from others, but is this true?Recently I found out I will be going to Israel-Palestine with the David Project, an organization that has teamed up […]

No Title

In light of the mass shooting in Texas, I wanted to educate myself on the matter. I am disappointed in the security system in place to protect us. It was released on Monday that the shooter in Texas was able to acquire a gun legally because the Air Force had neglected to submit Devin P. Kelley’s conviction of […]

Runaway

A few weeks ago I bought a bike and started realizing the joy of having access to all parts of the city at anytime. Lately when I get on my bike one idea comes into mind: runaway. I imagine just riding and never looking back and having no idea where I plan to go. There’s […]

Bucket List

Today, something incredible happened. Honestly, when I woke up this morning all I could think was “I’m tired,” And sometimes, I have to admit, “I’m tired,” becomes “I don’t want to.” But church always makes me feel better. My friends and colleagues make me smile, the choir puts me at ease, the sermon makes me think […]

Hometowns

I went to Pittsburgh last weekend for the Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Women’s annual meeting. As the weekend approached, my focus was less on the meeting and more on being home. My bed, my favorite ice cream shop, driving, highschool friends-everything I have missed. So, I  traveled to Pittsburgh. I drove familiar streets. I visited […]

New perspectives

This week I attended the program for the 500th anniversary of the 95 theses. We had a delicious dinner and watched a documentary film on Luther and the historical context behind his actions. My father drove up to attend the event because we have very old German ancestry and both love good spätzle.  The documentary really […]