I Am What's Right With the World

This blog post has been about 6 months in the making...

I actually decided to start this blog around that time, when I had just watched Tom Shadyac's documentary film I Am for the first time. I was so excited to have been able to attend class the day that he Skyped in to talk to the Vocation and Arts class about his film and his vocation as a filmmaker. I was so intrigued by the answers he gave that I couldn't wait to watch the film that my fellow classmates had already seen. It turned out to be an inspiring film that challenged me to think about what I can do to help fix the problems in the world.

I found it kind of funny that something I wrote about in my reflection 4 or 5 days ago was actually something that Shadyac addressed in the Skype interview session. I found a critique of the film online in which the viewer expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of specific, practical solutions that the film offered. In the Skype interview, Shadyac told us that he stayed away from the specifics because each person knows what steps to take in their own lives. He challenges us to think about what we can do with our time and talents to help the world. His lack of specificity opens us up to unending possibility and allows us to make a deep personal commitment to justice and a peaceful world.

I loved the way that Shadyac described his vocation as a filmmaker. He prides himself on telling stories that provoke, challenge, and inspire. This documentary definitely did just that, but how did he do this in the movies with fictional characters and contrived plots? He said that instead of coming right out and telling people that they are selfish, he can create a character who is selfish so that people can look at this and see the negative attitudes reflected in themselves. Seeing the implications of the character's behavior may provide clarity for their own situation. And seeing this character change for the better, in the end, may encourage the viewer to do the same in their own life.  

The name of my blog actually came from the film's conclusion, when Shadyac shifted from the question "What's wrong with the world?" to that of "What's right with the world?" The answer to the first question was one of personal responsibility, "I am." It is our hope that we can come to be able to answer the second question in just the same way. We are all called to be what's right in the world.

The video below is one of my all time favorites. It is a poem by Jonathon Reed that shows both what is wrong with the world and what can be right if we turn it around. I think it directly relates to the message of Shadyac's film.  

And, I thought this image really drives home the fact that we are all connected and one!

Rest in Peace

Earlier today I was reviewing the contents of Rolheiser's The Shattered Lantern. I was taken aback when today's homily at mass directly related to something I had just read about. In today's Gospel reading, Jesus invited the apostles to rest after their having been away driving out demons and curing the sick. Jesus saw that the apostles were weary and encouraged them to take time to rest. Rolheiser speaks of unbridled restlessness as being opposed to contemplation. We are filled with restlessness in our lives-we are constantly busy and always longing to do more and be more. This restlessness keeps us from experiencing God's presence in our everyday lives. We are too busy to give thought to God. We never slow down and take time to think about what we are doing and if it is doing any real good. We have a special time each week at mass to relax and just "be" in the presence of God, but even then we are often thinking about the stressful week ahead and what we need to do to stay on top of it all. We are encouraged to take not only this brief time on Sunday, but also time during the week to rest. In resting, we may come to know those things that are really important in our lives, like family and other human relationships. Most importantly, we may use this time to reconnect with God in hopes that we will someday rest in his peace of eternal life.

That's Amore!

Something I thought about while reading Pope Benedict XVI's Address to Artists was the music I heard while I was in Italy. He mentions the "universal language of music" as he speaks of the important art forms that have graced the Sistine Chapel throughout history. When I was in Italy, I was expecting to hear some traditional Italian music. I don't know much about music, so my idea of this was classical, spaghetti-eating music a la Lady and the Tramp. 

Or, of course, the ever popular "That's Amore."

I think I was expecting some old school accordion sound or something. What I got was popular American music... As if our radio stations hadn't already played these songs to death. And I thought I was going to escape it for a week! I guess music really is a universal language. While I did somewhat enjoy hearing music in my own language, as communication with locals was an impossibility for me (with the exception of "Grazie," which I ended up finding out I was pronouncing wrong the whole trip), I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear some beautiful Italian music. In some ways, I think maybe I had forgotten that Italy is a modernized country. Though I was there to "travel back in time" to "see" historical events and "meet" historical persons, there are also the people that live there now and the culture they have established to keep in mind.  

This leads me to another point. It was hard for me to imagine what life looks like in another country. My life in the U.S. bubble has made it hard for me to envision foreign countries in modern times. I think this may have to do with history classes focusing on ancient history rather than more current history. The layout of the buildings and homes in Assisi, all attached and close together, seemed to match up pretty well with my expectations (probably thanks to the movie Letters to Juliet). Other than that, though, I couldn't really tell you what I was expecting. What I do know is that people are people wherever you go, and kindness and thankfulness are always your friends (even when you don't say the words quite right)!

It's a Small World After All

As I was researching the life and Work of Simone Weil, I found out that she spent some time in Assisi in 1937. It was in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (in the Portiuncula to be exact) that Weil had one of three important spiritual encounters that eventually led to her conversion to Christianity. It is so cool to think that I have walked where these important historical figures walked in their lifetimes. It is amazing how a place can unite you with the people that came before you, great and small. Having been to a place and walked there provides a whole new dimension to imagination. Now when I read or hear about Assisi, I can picture the people in these places.

Photo I took of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi 

And, just for fun...here's a another picture from the Basilica of the doves hanging out with St. Francis!

I couldn't believe those were real birds at first!

Looks Can Be Deceiving

I've been saving up some random quick thoughts to post about and here's the first of them.

So, first I wanted to talk about an awesome website I came across while surfing the net. The site is called Mighty Optical Illusions and can be found here: http://www.moillusions.com/. The article I opened to was about the realistic wall paintings of David Jon Kassan and can be found here. If you ever have time to do so, take a look around the site by simply clicking "Random Illusion" on the menu bar. This stuff is mind-boggling!

Kassan

Another artist, Edgar Mueller, practices the art of Street Painting. His work is pictured below. 

Mueller

Why am I talking about this? I'm glad you asked! These wall paintings reminded me of some of the 3D illusion paintings I saw in the churches of Italy and in the Vatican Museums.  

I really wish I had a camera that allowed me to record voice memos or type captions as pictures were taken because I don't remember what this painting was called. I know it was right before we saw Raphael's The School of Athens. The statues that appear to be holding the painting above are actually a part of the painting themselves. I had to do a double take when we walked into this room; I really thought they were 3 dimensional statues at first glance. If this will help to identify (for art lovers), these statues were painted below this image.

I would put up more example pictures, but it's hard for me to tell which ones actually are 3D and which are painted illusions. Some of them are that good! I am in awe of the talent these artists have for making things look extremely realistic. I had enough trouble with a simple point perspective drawing!

This amazing ability to make art come to life reminded me of the task of artists to bridge the gap between God and his human family. Just as the painting techniques make the subjects of the painting appear to be real, artists can make God's presence known. The simple fact that people can paint in this manner and with such accuracy and precision is reason enough for me to think a divine spark has to be at work! 

Just for fun, here's a little reversal of the 2D-3D works! This looks like a painting...

Alexa Meade

but it's actually a real person with her body painted!

Related Article

More short blurbs and random thoughts to follow!

Called to Be "John the Baptists"

Today is the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. I went to mass earlier and was struck by the homily I heard. In it, the priest said that we are called to be "John the Baptists." This reminded me of something I read in Neafsey's A Sacred Voice is Calling. We can have different callings at different times in or in different areas of our lives. We can also have multiple callings at any given moment. I don't know whether I should find this comforting or a little scary. Would having many different callings be confusing? Or should this variety be exciting? I can only assume that not all callings will require the same amount of effort. We can be called to do certain things or to be the best version of ourselves in relation to a variety of other people, in relation to all of God's creation, and in relation to different places and times in our lives.

Called to Teach? Maybe...But, What Else?

I would like to think that God does not give us more than we can manage. Saying this, however, doesn't mean that what we do "get" won't be difficult. The priest at mass today likened the world we live in to a modern day wilderness, a desert wasteland. There is so much sin and hatred in the world; we are to be the voice of peace. We are to bring the beauty back. We are to be like John the Baptist by heralding the coming of Christ and the coming of God's kingdom. No matter what we figure our vocation to be, we have a special vocation attached to our identity as members of the Christian faith- that being, sharing the Good News of God's love with others through our thoughts, words, and actions. 

As I reflected on John the Baptist and on Neafsey's book, I thought of the cover of this book. The photograph on the cover, titled "So That All Shall Know," reminded me of the "voice crying out in the desert." This voice calls to us to prepare for the coming of the Lord. When I came to the part in scripture that said "make straight His paths" I got a little confused. How could I, an imperfect human, make a straight path for the Lord? Shouldn't this task be handed to someone more capable? I decided to think of it like this- we should straighten ourselves out for the coming of the Lord. In doing this, we can also make a path through which God can reach others. 

I also decided to do a little more research on the photograph and found out it is the fourth in a series of photographs, collectively titled "Clarification." The first three photos depict the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil philosophy that dominated in the cruel climate of the Guatemalan civil war. Hernandez-Salazar's photographs were going to be used for the cover of a human rights report, but the report was in four volumes. The final photograph was taken at a later date, and it depicts the need for history to be known. The fourth "angel" is shouting "So That All Shall Know" what happened, so that these horrors will never again occur. No longer could people turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to what happened to his people.  

"What happened here can't just be spoken. You have to shout it."
Daniel Hernandez-Salazar on the atrocities of the Guatemalan civil war

Bishop Juan Gerardi, who presided over the project to recover the historical memory of the civil war and the Guatemalan people, was assassinated two days after the report was released. As a result, Hernandez-Salazar decided to begin an effort to hang posters of the fourth angel all over the city. This effort has spread to sites in other countries where tragedy has struck, including concentration camps from World War II and Hiroshima, Japan. See these pictures and others in slideshow attached to this article, This reminded me of the "Cover the Night" event for the Stop Kony campaign that happened this past April, which was part of an effort to raise awareness about and put an end to the crimes of fugitive Joseph Kony. In both cases, visual media was used for social activism. Daniel Hernandez-Salazar uses his skills and work as a photographer to fulfill his vocation of human rights activism. He exposes the wasteland qualities of our world in an effort to bring justice and restore beauty.  

I was also fascinated by the way his artwork was able to bring new life to the bones exhumed from a mass grave. Hernandez-Salazar said of the bones, “They looked like butterfly wings. They looked like bird wings. I always associated the flight of birds with the search for freedom and freedom of expression. That was something that had been destroyed in the war. But they could also be angel wings. Angels are spirits, they are messengers. They are someone who lived and died.” This reminded me of our search for freedom from sin and our search for beauty and truth in our world. It also reminded me of our duty as Christians to be messengers of Christ, preparing the way of the Lord like St. John the Baptist did so many years ago. We must have eyes to see the world in which we live, ears to hear the voice of our fellow man, and mouths to proclaim the coming of the kingdom. 

Thought Bubble

Today, I saw a cloud that reminded me of a statue I saw at the Vatican Museum in Rome.

The statue, pictured above, is a marble sculpture portraying the death of Laocoön, a Trojan priest, and his sons for trying to expose the plot of the Trojan horse. I don't know that there is a reason that I should be reminded of this particular statue today, but it was nice to be reminded of my beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy with the Chaminade Scholars.

I have to say it was kind of weird that the clouds in the sky reminded me of this. If you saw them, you'd know what I meant. Taking a second look at them, they didn't really look like this statue at all. It was just a split second look at the clouds and I thought of this statue. It reminded me of a dream- how you can be in a place that looks nothing like what you know it to be, yet you know exactly where you are. Perhaps the white of the clouds reminded me of the white marble or the smooth curves of the clouds were reminiscent of those present in the sculpture. I really couldn't tell you exactly. The mind works in mysterious ways, but I'm glad to have had the opportunity to think back on my Italian experience.

Have you ever had a friend that was doing something you didn't agree with? They may not listen when you tell them to stop or may tune you out when you try to help. Sometimes they need to make their own mistakes and learn from them before they truly "get it." And let's not just pin this on "friends," it's probably been us who was wrong a time or two. Like the Trojans who didn't listen to Laocoön's warning, we only see our error after we experience the negative consequences we likely could have foreseen, after the city has been destroyed. How many times have we silenced the voice of reason only to regret it later? I think what I'm trying to say is don't kill Laocoön or this guy!

That little voice inside you warning you about the pony full of people who want to pummel you is probably making a lot of sense. This also just reminded me of the Shawshank Redemption, which I happened to watch last night. The mind does indeed work in mysterious ways. There is a part of the movie where the inmate who knows that Andy is innocent is murdered. This man was his chance to get out of prison for the crime he never committed. I am by no means saying that this man's death was a good thing, but from a movie-viewers perspective it made Andy's eventual triumph all the more rewarding. Maybe the mistakes we make aren't so bad; we are human after all. It just depends on if and how you bounce back. Do you use what you've learned to make your ending sweeter? Or do you let your mistakes spiral into a cycle of wrong choices?

My brain is on fire with the connections right now! I just realized that it's kind of funny that I brought  Jiminy into this because two of the gifts I bought in Italy were Pinocchio (a marionette and a whistle-both of which the new owners love and both of which may have been blessed by the pope, if they count as religious objects). And I thought of Pinocchio when I said the thing about spirals of bad decisions, though Pinocchio's was more of a straight line- his nose!

Aren't those whistles just adorable?! I bought one because it reminded me of my nephew Enzo, but then I realized he is far to young at a year for one of these tiny whistles. Wouldn't want him choking! So, I gave it to my roommate Stacey instead, for her 21st birthday. And who knows, maybe she will end up giving it to a child in Africa on her trip to Zambia. She leaves this week and I hold her and that whole group of UD students in prayer!

Yep, I'm enjoying this blog just as much as I thought I would!

My original plan for this blog was that it would be my Vocation and the Arts Study Journal. I don't think this is a required component of my summer directed study, but I'm going to do my best to keep up with it anyways with thoughts from the readings and discussions and connections to the Italy experience, like this first post.

I will be getting into some intense preparation this week for the Praxis II, which I will be taking this Saturday, so I don't know that I'll have much to say before next Sunday. But, I can tie this to vocation and art! I currently believe my vocation involves instilling a lifelong love of and passion for learning in the minds of young children. Passage of this test is required in order to obtain my teaching license and thus fulfill my "call." And I believe that teaching is a true art form. It requires not only knowledge of your subject material but of each individual student as well. It requires time and dedication, passion and enthusiasm. To the people out there who think teaching is easy, I'd like to see them spend a day in a room of 20 first graders. It's easy to do any job poorly, but good teaching is an art and true learning, the always-in-progress masterpiece.