Energy.

September 27, 2017 at 11:10 pm

I have been attached to the concept of energy since the middle of the summer. Energy is what I seek constantly in my life. I believe in the power of energy, and more importantly how much I learn from energy. In my third year at Boston University, I have tried to portray a different energy this year. Mentally, I’m more focused on the future and what happens next then any other time in my life. I’m determined to leave Boston university someone who made an impact on the community. A few weeks ago I wrote a prayers of the people that was deeply personal, although it was general. Every sentence hit me. I was speaking to around 50 people in the congregation, but it felt like just me in the sanctuary. Over the summer I fell in love with energy and attached myself to people with high energy. But, reflecting on the summer, I fell in love with energy because I myself was drained of all energy. I was exhausted and a shell of my true self. So, I am now torn. Is energy me running away or running towards something. I honestly don’t know. It hurts either way.

“sometimes I laugh with God about how they can’t stop me”

By Devin Harvin | Posted in Devin, Fall 2017 | Comments (1)

Hello

September 27, 2017 at 4:58 pm

My name is Phoebe Oler. Here I go.

During this weeks staff meeting on Monday night I was able to deeply reflect on what is important to me in prayer and in life. It began with Bach Sunday and the cantata about the evils of the hypocrisy of Christianity: when one doesn't act what they preach. This is something I've always been very sensitive to because of the atmosphere of my hometown Episcopal church.

I began singing in the choir when I was 7 and I sang every Sunday for 8 years. So, I saw the same parishioners every week. I had a very complicated relationship to my church growing up and I will probably continue to write about it as the year progresses. My work at Marsh Chapel has stirred a lot of memories and reminded me of many parallels and perpendiculars between the two experiences.

 As a kid, I was always torn up by the fact that adults attended church and sat and listened to the sermons and prayers every single week, but never seemed to change. [It seemed] they heard the word of the lord and it went out the other ear in the same breath.

Specifically, the drunks were still drunks, the miserable were still miserable, the mean were still mean. I was always drawn to watching and observing these specific type of folk.

These types of individuals drove me insane. Why???!!!! I would wonder. I still do, but I learned to understand that some people can't see the beauty in life for a multitude of reasons. Whether its rational or irrational, self-inflicted or a result of adversity, some people get lost along the way.

The hopeless. Thinking precisely anatomically of the word: hope less, less hope. Devoid of hope.

Hope is innately a human trait. (Who am I to say that my dog doesn't hope I return home soon??) Rather, the extent to which the mind can hope is uniquely human.

When humans display obvious signs of hopelessness, I am always struck in the pit of my stomach with a lighting bolt. There is something eerie about these people. They remind me of ghosts. Walking around as shells of something that once was. I can't help but think of them as the child they were. Undoubtedly full of light and joy and hope. Excitement and aloofness. Something pulled them down. I don't know when or how, but something chained itself to their ankle. Or clung to their neck and drags alongside of them.

Something tortures them every-single-day.

What is beautiful about the human species is our ability to live for more than just survival and reproduction. When I see someone who has lost their vision, it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have been blessed with hope and the ability to see the works of God within myself and in the world.

I wish I could sprinkle pieces of my eyesight on the miserable, the wicked, the drunk, but I can't teach the blind to see.

 

So, it was the hopeless that I decided to pray for to close the meeting. 

By Phoebe Oler | Posted in Fall 2017, Phoebe, Phoebeo | Comments (4)

We are one

September 21, 2017 at 1:02 am

Last week I felt blessed. It was the first meeting for the Boston Bridges Fellowship Program, a program designed to create relationships between religious and communal leaders throughout the Greater Boston area. There were twelve Fellows and amongst them six Christians, two Rabbis, two Muslims, one Hindu, and one Baha'i. Coming from a community where religious pluralism and interreligious affairs amongst community leaders is not at the forefront of peoples minds, so this was special to me. I met Tay, another muslim, who at one point asked if it was alright to pray in the middle of "ice-breaker" activity, my response: "Can I pray with you." We prayed together and in all honesty, I need to do more of that in order to be thankful for the blessings in my life. Towards the end we had a quick discussion where I learned a little bit from everyone's faith that I did not know before. One thing stuck out to me in particular, it was what Tay mentioned. When we were discussing the different Christian denominations someone asked what were the Muslim denominations. Tay gave the quick answer of Sunni, Shia, and Sufi and mentioned that the different schools of thought create variations among them. What really stuck out to me was what he mentioned afterwards when asked what denomination he was a part of. "It's funny that I'm here now, speaking with members of other religious communities, but one thing we don't do as muslims is interact with each other. It's almost as if we hate each other over simple differences. I don;t like the hate, differences, or labels. So when people ask me what I am, I just say I'm Muslim." I always thought of it that way, but never articulated it in that manner. Mostly, I would just say I was Sunni because I didn't know how else to respond.

Tays words opened up my mind in a way to simplify things, rather than complicate them. I am a man, I am a Muslim, but above all I am a human being. As humans we laugh, we cry, we love, we hurt, we live, and we die. There are so many basic similarities between us that we take for granted and ignore. It was a beautiful thing to see as bridges were created at the first Boston Bridges Fellowship meeting (this is a horrible pun). People came together to just understand each other, still include our love for faith, but our love for each other as well. We are people, we are loving, and we are one.

By Oelmis Fermin | Posted in Emi, Fall 2017, Oelmis | Comments (0)

My Word of the Week

September 20, 2017 at 11:44 pm

Listen (v.)- to hear something with thoughtful attention

This week I've realized I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I'm going to say. I even typed, deleted and re-typed that sentence four times. But it's usually more important than that. I find myself thinking more about my responses than what others are trying to tell me. I guess in this age of carefully composed texts, tweets and Facebook posts, it can be tempting to script every single conversation.

Last week, a not-guilty verdict came down in my hometown of St. Louis affirming that we haven't come very far in the past three years since Michael Brown was shot on the street in Ferguson. Immediately I found myself wanting to post something, to write something, to say something. But I realized I didn't have any wise words or profound experience to contribute. But just because I didn't have something to say didn't mean there wasn't a meaningful conversation happening.

Today, more than ever, the "talk less, smile more" strategy feels wrong. All the injustice makes me want to scream, but I realized my desire to sound intelligent, to show that I'm "woke," was consuming a lot of time I could be spending actually understanding what was making me upset. I found the wise words I was looking for from individuals had been researching the causes of injustice and coming up with strategies that had the potential to change the future. I discovered the experiences that I was lacking were being articulated by others who've shared my city with me my whole life yet led a life so different from mine just because of what neighborhood they were born in or the color of their skin.

All I had to do was stop thinking about what I wanted to say and just

Listen.

 

 

By marittn | Posted in Fall 2017, Maritt | Comments (0)

Hello

September 20, 2017 at 9:09 pm

Hi, my name is Savannah Wu, I am originally from Taiwan but lived in Shanghai for 12 years until I came to Boston for college. I am very grateful and excited to be able to help out at Marsh Chapel, to explore Christianity and to get to know the other Marsh staff and interns this year!

I am an Architectural Studies major and Sustainable Energy minor junior and am graduating with the class of 2018. I catch myself wondering if graduating early is the right choice often these days, but on the other hand, I am also looking forward to applying for jobs and grad school as well. This year will be an important vocational discernment year, a turning point in my life. This summer I interned at sustainability@BU and took an architecture studio course at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. I had ACL reconstruction surgery early in June, which was very painful for the first few weeks. Nevertheless, the experience helped me realize how much my dad loves me (he came to take care of me for a week) and what a privilege it is to be able to walk, to be independent and mobile. I’m thankful for these milestones in life, the opportunities to reflect, to spend time with family, to learn about different climate action plans in various US cities and schools, to have the space to imagine, draw and model three dimensional spaces. I will be working hard to be able to practice Shotokan Karate again and hope to better understand climate change and the built environment this semester. I am also looking forward to planning/writing a senior thesis related to retrofitting historic buildings to become more climate resilient and to adapt to current needs. I aspire to be stronger, more patient and focused, to start meaningful conversations and to build lasting friendships this year.

I’ve talked to Jess about programming activities for Earth Week, to get Marsh Chapel offices Green Office Certified, and to initiate more conversations around sustainability and faith.

As Norman Wirzba writes in the book, From Nature to Creation:

[T]he way we name and narrate the world determines how we are going to live within it. . . . To say that our world is “creation” rather than a “corpse,” a “material mechanism,” or a “natural resource” means that we need to see it and our involvement with it in a particular, God-honoring sort of way. It is not a material mechanism that runs according to its own laws. It is instead the material manifestation of God’s love operating within it. It is not a pointless exercise of motion, “full of sound and fury, / signifying nothing,” but a drama that witnesses to a divine, hospitable intention that invites our response and participation. Therefore, the practices and priorities of our economies, and the way we think about production and consumption, need to reflect this new appreciation of the world. To live in creation, in other words, means that we must understand ourselves as called to adopt particular kinds of expectations, affections, and responsibilities that are appropriate to a world so named. If the world isn’t a value-free, amoral mechanism, then we cannot do with it whatever we want.

I want to thank Jess for lending me this book, it is inspiring and thought provoking. This passage reminds me of my mom’s lawyer friend who said that he began to believe in God when he realized that all the beautiful things we see in nature, all the artwork that has been created, could not have been by mere accident, they must have been touched by something divine. I remember questioning the validity of his perspective, but the more I think about it, the more his remark makes sense. Thus, I want to honor God's creations, to study and care for our environment. I am deeply disturbed by the natural disasters and weird weather patterns that are affecting people around the world and desire to process and do something about climate change.

By Shao-Wei Wu | Posted in Savannah | Comments (0)

He Has Made Me Glad

September 20, 2017 at 2:59 pm

This week I came upon an organist and musician by the name of Cory Henry. He is the frontman for a group by the name of the Funk Apostles, as well as a regular organist and music leader for a number of churches around the nation. One piece of his in particular stood out to me entitled "He Has Made Me Glad." The piece is based off of Psalm 92 saying,

"For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;

I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

How great are your works, Lord,

how profound your thoughts!"

This excerpt from Psalm 92 speaks to me as it speaks to the true awesomeness of God's presence in our lives. Henry's interpretation of the gospel standard connected with me as well. In the video below you can see the joy of playing this music brings him. It's difficult to not smile at least once during the performance due to the beauty and jubilance of his playing. Seeing Henry play this spiritual reminded me of the joy God brings to my life. Through music, prayer, fellowship, service, and mindfulness I am given life through God each and every day. Why waste this gift on what is trivial when there is so much to be thankful for? Today I am thankful, for God makes me glad.

By Thomas Batson | Posted in Fall 2017, Tom | Comments (0)

week two.

September 20, 2017 at 2:39 pm

The rhythm seems a lot easier to get back into the third time around. I've powered through the freshman rollercoaster and moved past the woes of sophomore year. Junior year I hope to surround myself with people that genuinely want to see my grow and succeed. I've always been extroverted and a people person, however, this summer I realized the importance of friendship. I finished my sophomore year wanting more than anything to be alone. To take time to figure things out on my own and isolate myself from others. That was my plan this summer, but God had another plan for me.

I gained some additional people to my tribe here at BU. They are honest, intelligent, they believe in me and most important they make me want to be better. I travelled around the northeast with them and through the midwest by bus train, car and plane. I was reminded this summer what friendship means. From the importance of my fraternity brothers in my life to feeling wrapped in the warmth of comfort when surrounded by family. I travelled back home and saw friends doing amazing volunteer work and realizing how great of a moment it is to live in.

My first two weeks of junior year haven't been ideal, but I'm still hopeful. I live by one motto since July of 2017. It is very simple. "It's not what they call you, it's who you answer to" and I answer to my best friend, Jesus Christ. So, I'm excited for the challenges this year holds. I understand the ups and downs of college and that somedays feel longer than the others, but there's something new this year. I consider it a new energy. I'm inspired again and I see so much, but hear so little this year. I found this quote last year and attached it to a picture of my Marsh Chapel Family. I think I will hold on to it all semester, "find your tribe and love them hard."

By Devin Harvin | Posted in Devin, Fall 2017 | Comments (0)

Sinusoidal Functions and Balance

September 17, 2017 at 11:36 pm

I remember -- two years ago -- being in my Differential Equations class and learning about the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model.

I found it (and many other mathematical models like it) to be fascinating!

The predator-prey model is a differential equation that describes (oftentimes) two sinusoidal wave functions that impact each other in this specific way:

y' = ax - αxy
x' = -cy + γxy

where a, c, α, and γ are all positive constants.

Now, this might look like some random gibberish, but the resulting y(t) from these differentials would be the population of predators, and the x(t) would be the population of prey.

Without going way too far into the details of assessing differential equations -- that would take too much time -- these differential equations lead to two sinusoidal functions that are based on what the different constants are set to. These constants determine the rate at which the prey reproduce and are eaten and the rate at which the predators compete and reproduce due to an abundance of preys to eat. A video of a sample use of the model can be viewed here and a view of the two sinusoidal functions over time can be viewed here. In the video, imagine that time is just moving forward, and the dots would be denoting both the positions of the x(t) and y(t) functions of different predator-prey systems with varying constants that effect the initial and changing population sizes of each species.

What is neat about this model is not only how it can be used to predict population change between two simple populations in a small food-chain, but also what it can say about our world and the impacts that a change in these systems can have...with a great example being what can happen if someone uses pesticides.

An important phenomena that this model shows(and what actually does often happen as a result of using pesticides in farming) is that you could throw an entire system out of balance and effectively cause more problems than you initially planned to solve.

Here's how: imagine that the predator-prey system currently acts like the blue circle in the video above. So, there are moderate numbers of predators and preys, your everyday pests. These two populations are sinusoidal; they generally move up and down over time with a small amplitude about an average population. Now, imagine that, in an effort to reduce both populations, you use some sort of pesticide and then bam!, both populations move to a point near the bottom left of the graph in the video -- perhaps near where the red line is closest to the x=0 and y=0 point. This would configure the constants in the above functions to result in two sinusoidal functions that together function like the red line in the video -- and as the video shows, the prey population would explode!

With a greatly reduced number of predators around, the prey's population can grow rapidly. Consequently, with a large number of prey around to eat, the predator's population begins to grow rapidly, although lagging behind the prey's population. Eventually the preys are overeaten, and with less food, the predators die off rapidly, bringing both species back to low numbers...only to set the conditions for the cycle to happen all over again.

While the pest-controlling was meant to reduce both populations, the results of the act of using pesticides actually forces both populations to grow and shrink in a less stable way, resulting in moments in time where both populations are many factors larger than before pesticides were even used!

Now, while this is an important model for ecology, I have noticed that many, if not, most systems are fairly sinusoidal. There seems to be rhythm to life.

And many noticeable examples of this are in human systems. We tend, in many ways, to be sinusoidal functions -- a different kind of sinusoidal than a predator prey model -- but a sinusoidal function in some way nonetheless.

I mean, with lots of variables, and with different kinds of behavior than a simple sine curve, but still a sinusoidal function nonetheless.

The important detail here is that we all tend to be rhythmic creatures, and that an important part of our rhythms as beings is achieving balance and maintaining this balance.

Sometimes, an important question that is asked by our Methodist friends here at Marsh Chapel is "Is it well with your soul?" and, honestly, that may be by far one of the most important questions that we should ask each other and ourselves often.

Is it well with your soul?

With the mystical-to-me-and-yet-honestly-I-get-what-you-mean-by-soul-here language and everything.

Is it well with your soul?

With the quiet and slow voice that, for a moment perhaps forces you to pause and wonder: wait, is it well with my soul? and then when you pause for a second, you realized you haven't sat down for more than 5 minutes at a time in the last week and you've had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch the last 17 days and now you know why you've been dreading lunch and your ankles hurt. So maybe you should join your friends for tacos during lunch and your work will totally be waiting right there on that desk over there when you get back and those 30 minutes of a lunch break is definitely more valuable than that small amount of extra work you could complete each day by not stopping.

Is it well with your soul?

Or when I asked myself this question earlier this summer and noticed that the number of worship services I could attend weekly declined a significant amount and I missed the moments of peace and angelic music and man I really wish I could be reading that Rob Bell book sitting on my night stand but I always get home too exhausted to read and too tired to even just watch Netflix.

Is it well with your soul?

A question that often forces us to peer into our selves and see the constants that are driving the differential equations behind the many variables that govern our psyche and our health.

 

And then, hopefully, we can either prevent a change in the parameters that push us out of balance, or we can work to bring ourselves to more stability. Perhaps with meditation or contemplation. A good one is to put on some meditative music and to yawn a few times and then breath in slowly and when breathing out, lay a sacred word or phrase from your identities and traditions onto that breath you let out. And then, for like ten minutes, just do that...free from all distractions and the outside world.

A thought crosses your mind? It is okay, allow it to cross your mind and let it pass.

In all honesty, ten minutes of that can help with restoring a little balance to these functions by changing the constants to a more balanced place -- or if you want to get all technical about differentials, it would cause some forcing on this sinusoidal system, or something like that.

By Nickholas Rodriguez | Posted in Fall 2017, Nick | Comments (0)

Do I belong?

September 16, 2017 at 1:34 am

I am not supposed to be here. I'm about to start my fourth year as an undergrad and I'm a Junior, I should probably clarify that I'm also a transfer. But really, I'm not supposed to be here. I was born pre-maturely at six months with a few complications that could've taken the life of the person who gave me life, aside from my own. I'm here today, but that's not the only reason why I feel like I don't belong. I was never a great student until my last two years of high school. I attended a state school (Florida International University) ten minutes away from my home the first two years of college. I had no intentions of leaving the tropical climate of Miami, but after one year I thought about moving to New York as a theatre student in order to enhance my opportunities. during this time I was a bit confused of my religious identity, my curiosity led me to take a religious studies course.

Eventually we spoke of almsgiving, greed, love, hate, peace, conflict and topics that made me think of a world beyond the one showed to me by my parents, who as immigrants have seen the many faces of our planet. This was the best course I took at FIU and it had nothing to do with my area of study. I realized at the end of that semester that I wanted to change the world and I couldn't really do that as an actor that may not reach "success".

Someone close to me suggested that I should to apply BU. By the end of spring semester 2016 I had to make a choice between NYU and BU; understand that not many people from where I come from think of attending college and much less a private institution. I chose BU, but not all of my credits transferred and I had to redo my sophomore year; so obviously I regretted the decision (this is a joke, please laugh). I was always the youngest person in my class, at BU I'm one of the oldest. I always lived in an area where the temperature never dropped below sixty degrees Fahrenheit, at BU it's always cold as long it's not summer.

I'm majoring in Middle Eastern and North African studies and everyone here is so smart, sometimes I feel left behind, sometimes I feel like I don't belong. Maybe I am here for a reason though, maybe this is a test from God to overcome a challenge and strengthen me for the future. I believe God makes no mistakes and the opportunities put in front of me are to help, not just me, but everyone I can when the time is right. I hope to go into the human rights field. I hope to join the Peace Corps after I graduate in order to help people anywhere I can and ease their struggle.

By Oelmis Fermin | Posted in Emi, Fall 2017 | Comments (0)

Time

September 13, 2017 at 11:55 pm

Another new year is beginning at Marsh Chapel and my academic career at BU is now in its second year. My first year at BU taught me to think more deeply and consider why things are rather than accepting the way they are. This year, I hope to consider how and where I spend my time. My academic classes and piano repertoire are becoming more rigorous and I am beginning to understand the importance of spending time to not only practice a craft, but contemplate how to approach my studies.

I feel that if I use this technique with my faith, I will begin to grow in that respect as well. Having a more complete picture of the historical, political, and theological opinions on biblical texts I encounter this year will lead me to a more lucid understanding of my own relationship with God and how I can be a more informed member of the Christian faith.

Taking time is important. I reflect upon the Ecclesiastes verse, "There is a time for all things." At this moment in my life most of my time is spent quickly learning and analyzing where I will go next. But perhaps it is as important to also take time to contemplate and reflect upon where I am now. Perhaps it is important to give my time to others. Perhaps it is important to give myself the grace to take time for myself. These are things I begin to consider as time passes on.

By Thomas Batson | Posted in Fall 2017, Tom | Comments (0)