Between watching the market news, the campaign, and reading on average 300 pages of Freud a week, this is the resulting post....
(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Calling all New Yorkers...
I was very glad to learn of this initiative, and thought to share it here....
September 19, 2008
Dear New Yorker,
I am writing today in hopes that you might join me in spreading the word about efforts currently underway to provide badly-needed relief to hurricane victims in Haiti.
As you know, this past month, three deadly hurricanes left more than 100 dead and tens of thousands homeless in Haiti before barreling into the U.S. and wreaking havoc and destruction along the Gulf Coast.
On Thursday, following similar relief efforts to our neighbors in the South, Governor Paterson directed the opening of the New York Army National Guard Armory in Brooklyn to allow for the collection of donated relief supplies for the hurricane-stricken island nation of Haiti.
Items in high demand for shipment to Haiti include:
Bottled water (packed in cases or six packs at a minimum). Single bottles are inappropriate donations since they would have to be repackaged.
Rice (dried in bags)
Beans (dried cans only)
Sterno canisters
Tarpaulin (of any size, preferably 10 ft. x 10 ft. or larger) - to be used for both roofing and flooring
Nylon cord (100 ft. rolls)
Hygiene items limited to toothbrushes, toothpaste, mild soaps
New underclothes (children sizes)
New hand towels
Soldiers from the New York National Guard will be on hand to receive, sort and prepare donations at the following locations:
Bedford Armory
1579 Bedford Avenue at Union Street, Brooklyn
Sept. 18 - Sept. 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building
163 West 125th at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., Harlem
Sept. 18 - Sept. 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As the aftermath of these hurricanes continues to unfold, it's important that we do what we can to help alleviate some of the pain and suffering in Haiti.
The Council and I have already begun reaching out to our constituents to encourage them to collect and donate. If you could please pass this information along to the members of your community and encourage them to do the same, we'd deeply appreciate it. Working together, we can help make a difference in the lives of the Haitian people.
In closing, I would like to thank all of our state and city elected officials, especially Governor Paterson, Council Members Mathieu Eugene and Larry Seabrook, and the members of the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, for heading up this important relief effort.
I would also like to thank our brave men and women of the New York National Guard for once again stepping in during a time of crisis to help those in need.
For more information about the Haitian relief effort, please call (212) 681-4010 or e-mail relief@chamber.state.ny.us.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
New York City Council
September 19, 2008
Dear New Yorker,
I am writing today in hopes that you might join me in spreading the word about efforts currently underway to provide badly-needed relief to hurricane victims in Haiti.
As you know, this past month, three deadly hurricanes left more than 100 dead and tens of thousands homeless in Haiti before barreling into the U.S. and wreaking havoc and destruction along the Gulf Coast.
On Thursday, following similar relief efforts to our neighbors in the South, Governor Paterson directed the opening of the New York Army National Guard Armory in Brooklyn to allow for the collection of donated relief supplies for the hurricane-stricken island nation of Haiti.
Items in high demand for shipment to Haiti include:
Bottled water (packed in cases or six packs at a minimum). Single bottles are inappropriate donations since they would have to be repackaged.
Rice (dried in bags)
Beans (dried cans only)
Sterno canisters
Tarpaulin (of any size, preferably 10 ft. x 10 ft. or larger) - to be used for both roofing and flooring
Nylon cord (100 ft. rolls)
Hygiene items limited to toothbrushes, toothpaste, mild soaps
New underclothes (children sizes)
New hand towels
Soldiers from the New York National Guard will be on hand to receive, sort and prepare donations at the following locations:
Bedford Armory
1579 Bedford Avenue at Union Street, Brooklyn
Sept. 18 - Sept. 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building
163 West 125th at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., Harlem
Sept. 18 - Sept. 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As the aftermath of these hurricanes continues to unfold, it's important that we do what we can to help alleviate some of the pain and suffering in Haiti.
The Council and I have already begun reaching out to our constituents to encourage them to collect and donate. If you could please pass this information along to the members of your community and encourage them to do the same, we'd deeply appreciate it. Working together, we can help make a difference in the lives of the Haitian people.
In closing, I would like to thank all of our state and city elected officials, especially Governor Paterson, Council Members Mathieu Eugene and Larry Seabrook, and the members of the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, for heading up this important relief effort.
I would also like to thank our brave men and women of the New York National Guard for once again stepping in during a time of crisis to help those in need.
For more information about the Haitian relief effort, please call (212) 681-4010 or e-mail relief@chamber.state.ny.us.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
New York City Council
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Ideology
This past week or so has been a whirlwind of new ideas, tons of reading (300 pages of Freud in one week!?!), and of course, meeting new people.
Out of all of this, one phrase, made as an offhand comment by a professor well versed in church history, has stayed with me as perhaps one of the most profound commentaries on theology as well as society I have ever heard...He said (without being able to remember his exact wording, unfortunately) that 'whenever people are unable to discern between that which is life-giving, and that which is not, they cling to ideology'.
Your thoughts?
Out of all of this, one phrase, made as an offhand comment by a professor well versed in church history, has stayed with me as perhaps one of the most profound commentaries on theology as well as society I have ever heard...He said (without being able to remember his exact wording, unfortunately) that 'whenever people are unable to discern between that which is life-giving, and that which is not, they cling to ideology'.
Your thoughts?
Relationships
This op-ed by David Brooks is very interesting. I have often wondered about the balance between being an autonomous human being, and a deeply relational one at the same time. He looks at Conservative thinking from this angle, and I think hits the nail on the head...
The Social Animal
The Social Animal
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Autumn in Seminary
Some of you know that I applied last spring to go to seminary/divinity school for an MDiv degree. I was fairly ambivalent about it, but thought to give it a try. I was a bit relieved when I was not accepted, and decided that God must have other plans for me. I turned my sights away from seminary, and focused in on my work, my own heart and soul, and tried to stay open to any hint of a vocation.
Over the summer, as some areas of my life became clearer, I did indeed feel a sense of call developing...what I think might be a call to combine theology and psychology in addressing the suffering of others. This is not a call I would have chosen for myself, but a call that seemed to be emerging in spite of myself. With the encouragement of many others, I took a look around at local seminaries to see if I could take a class or two this autumn, and...long story short...right now I am enrolled at Seminary as a non-degree student and currently carrying a more-than-full-time course load.
How did this happen? As I sat on stage last Wednesday during the opening process for the school year, receiving the wisdom and blessing of the new President (a woman, hurray!), and looking around in wonder at my new class-mates, most of who had been planning to attend for the past 6 months at least, as opposed to my two-weeks notice, I felt a great deal of awe and not a little terror. I could only look up at the chapel ceiling and wonder if God had known all along what She was doing.
I hope God stills knows what God is doing, because I certainly do not.
That being said, it has been wonderful so far. I have never been in a community so devoted to thought and care of the deepest and most precious things of life. All are welcome, all are engaged, no belief treated cruelly, but few going unchallenged as well. It seems to be a place of strengthening and deepening, a place to ask questions, perhaps find answers, perhaps not, but always be supported in the process. I truly have no idea where this will lead, but it has been a blessing so far and I hope it will continue to be fruitful.
And as for this blog, I will try to use it to share with you all some of what I am learning, and a lot of what I am reading. And I'll try to remember to try some cookie recipes out now and again as well.....
I wish you all a wonderful autumn!
Over the summer, as some areas of my life became clearer, I did indeed feel a sense of call developing...what I think might be a call to combine theology and psychology in addressing the suffering of others. This is not a call I would have chosen for myself, but a call that seemed to be emerging in spite of myself. With the encouragement of many others, I took a look around at local seminaries to see if I could take a class or two this autumn, and...long story short...right now I am enrolled at Seminary as a non-degree student and currently carrying a more-than-full-time course load.
How did this happen? As I sat on stage last Wednesday during the opening process for the school year, receiving the wisdom and blessing of the new President (a woman, hurray!), and looking around in wonder at my new class-mates, most of who had been planning to attend for the past 6 months at least, as opposed to my two-weeks notice, I felt a great deal of awe and not a little terror. I could only look up at the chapel ceiling and wonder if God had known all along what She was doing.
I hope God stills knows what God is doing, because I certainly do not.
That being said, it has been wonderful so far. I have never been in a community so devoted to thought and care of the deepest and most precious things of life. All are welcome, all are engaged, no belief treated cruelly, but few going unchallenged as well. It seems to be a place of strengthening and deepening, a place to ask questions, perhaps find answers, perhaps not, but always be supported in the process. I truly have no idea where this will lead, but it has been a blessing so far and I hope it will continue to be fruitful.
And as for this blog, I will try to use it to share with you all some of what I am learning, and a lot of what I am reading. And I'll try to remember to try some cookie recipes out now and again as well.....
I wish you all a wonderful autumn!
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