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!