ucmadmin Better Together

Interfaith Spring Eggs

This week’s blog post comes from Better Together Committee Member Anne McGlamery, who joined me (Shea) for a springtime adventure around OU’s campus in Athens, Ohio.

Once upon a time two bunnies left UCM to give out interfaith eggs to the Ohio University community. Ok so it was actually Shea and I, but we had on bunny ears so it counts. This past weekend is what most people would call “Easter Weekend,” but it is highly unfair to give it that title. This time of year represents many different celebrations from the Jewish celebration of Passover to the Hindu Festival of Colors and so many others. It was because of this great time of celebrations that members of UCM decided to celebrate by giving out interfaith eggs with candy and one of thirteen Golden Rule quotes.

As with any great journey, we began at UCM and made our way down Court Street, which is a lot like our Main Street, where we were able to give our eggs to so many different kinds of people from students to professors to Athenians and even a parking patroller! This just goes to show how many different kinds of people make up this community and how those differences really bring us together as a diverse community. It also goes to show how two woman can walk down the road with bunny ears on and no one even bats and eyelash!

It was through this that we ecided to also go around to the different offices/departments to show our thanks for their support and to brighten their days. We began with the Women and Gender Studies building and then moved onto Baker Student Union where we gave eggs to possible students who were touring. Probably the most exciting part was going to the Art Gallery and being given BIG PINK BALLONS!!!!We were so excited and carried them around with us for the rest of the day, and once we got those we continued on. We visited such people as the Multicultural center,The Post Office (where we waited in line to give an egg to the Post Master), The Post (where we saw and gave an egg to Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi!), the English and Classical Civilizations offices, the LGBT Center, and The Woman’s Center. We visited these places to show some interfaith love to our friends of UCM and also to show some support for a few of the many offices on campus that supply support to OU students.

Nearing the end of our adventure we decided to make a special visit to 29 Park Place to visit President McDavis and the First Lady at home.  At OU the President of the university and his family live on campus, and we wanted to take advantage of this to share the interfaith love! We went up and knocked on their door and were greeted my First Lady McDavis who accepted two green eggs for herself and the president and thanked us. Ok so let me insert here that yes it was kind of crazy to go knock on their door and we kind of thought they may not answer, but they did!!! We finished our journey back at UCM by giving out eggs to the people at “home” who we also wanted to share the interfaith love and show our thanks for all that they do to support us.

Peace out,

Anne

ucmadmin Better Together

If God Had A Name, What Would It Be?

Hi again!  Shea here. *Waving.*

There’s other posts coming but this week you’re stuck with me. And because you’re stuck with me you’re stuck with my current thought process.

I have been thinking about the universe, and about the divine, a whole lot this week. 

When I was a young teenager Joan of Arcadia was my favorite television show.  I was captivated by the idea that God could be anywhere, at any time, and present as anybody. I was never concerned by God’s willingness to present as different sexes, social classes, genders, ability levels, religious backgrounds, and dressed in different clothing styles.  Of course God would do this.  Of course S/he would present as an innocent, book-savvy girl.  A goth teenage boy.  A scowl-y old lady.  This made perfect sense to me.

I’m a decade older now.  I have learned many things in these ten years, but one of the most startling was that some folks believe God would not, under any circumstances, present as a teenage goth boy, a book-savvy girl, and a scowl-y old lady, especially not in one day, because these folks believe (or, I am under the impression they believe) God is a conservtive man.

This is a valid belief system.  I am not saying this is not a valid belief system. I am saying it shocked me.  I am saying that when I learned this, I began thinking what I had before called God could not be called this because my God, S/he was all of these thing and atleast 10,000,000 more.  I began wondering the word for what I believe, and wondering how to serinade the devine.  How to ode the creator the mountainsides, exploded and non-exploded.  I wondered how to ode the God of giggling children and lost socks and burnt soup and the corner behind my bed where I inevitably find all of my lost pony tail holders. The God that sent me so many people to love, so many people to love me.

Joan Osborne asks a question I have been asking the Universe a lot lately.  If God had a name, what would it be?

Sometimes I feel God like I feel the light, like I feel the beauty, like I feel the poetry.  There are days when I feel that the earth is based in goodness, that people are based in goodness, that despite my flaws and shortcomings even I am based in goodness.  On these days I write poems. I write poems on Microsoft Word and napkins and on the palm of my hand and in my Black Writing Notebook. On these days I pick flowers to wear in my hair and I tell people that what is coming is better than what has come before, because I believe this to be true the way I believe chocolate makes even flunked tests better or that hugs could bring world peace.  Most days are like this, but some are not.  Sometimes I do not feel the light.  Sometimes I know God is there because I believe in the steady and unchanging, but sometimes what I feel is not light but that I am too young to have the answers my peers want when they call me at 1AM.  Sometimes I feel like my heart is not big enough pr wizened enough to understand how so many people can feel so much fear and pain. 

The light, it comes and it goes, but this Being I believe in, S/he stays the same, and when I look up I know I am saying thank-you to the sky and the Sky Creator and I do not hesitate to burn sage and step inside churches and string prayer beads and tell Holy Stories that perhaps are not really mine.  Every day, every time I walk, I imagine my feet saying thank you for this somewhat-splintered but still-sacred ground because every single day I know a Holy Being needs thanked.

If God had a name, what would it be? I do not know. But I know I want to continue looking this world in the face and seeing Him or Her, even means I have to reconcile this belief with a world that is not always beautiful, or even perfect.

– – – – – – –
Joan Osborne’s One of Us. The series Joan of Arcadia is mostly on YouTube, if you’d like to check it out between homework assignments or shifts as work.
ucmadmin Better Together

Interfaith Community Gardening

Happy Spring Quarter everyone! This quarter we’ll have posts from UCM interns and Ohio University students alike. This week intern Sam Fersky and her beautiful views on community gardening.
Every time I think I know Athens through to the core, like an old friend, Athens surprises me with gifts of beauty and joy.  This quarter Shea and I decided that we were going to plant a garden in order to stretch the summer food supply.  After doing some research, it seemed that taking advantage of the Athens Community Gardens would make the most sense for Thursday Supper.  I had no idea the community gardens would be a scene of bliss that would send me spiraling into a state of utter happiness.  All the gardeners working side by side, in harmony; so many different kinds of people, including students, low income members of the community, and student groups like Thursday Supper.                                           
It has long been a dream of mine that all people have access to healthy food regardless of how much money they make in a year.  Eating vegetables is not a privilege, it is a right.  It is a fact; everyday children in America go to school hungry.  Before we diagnose a child as having ADHD from now on we should ask them if they ate breakfast in the morning.  Rhetorical question:  do you find it difficult to learn when you haven’t eaten breakfast or even dinner the night before?  I do.  Sometimes, it seems like we are more willing to give our children pharmaceuticals than a healthy meal.  Unfortunately food insecurity is a reality for many children and adults in Athens County.  Food insecurity is a serious issue and there are some people and organizations in the community trying to do more than put a band aid on the problem. I have never been prouder to say that I live in Athens than now.  It seems that every day I learn about a local organization that I have never heard of tackling issues dealing with poverty.  The sheer fact that someone can lease a plot of land for one year, for $25.00 to grow as much healthy, organic food as they can fit on the land is simply amazing to me.
The point I am trying to make is that poverty exists, and not just in developing countries.  It is right down the road, it has a face.  It might be the woman at the bus stop, the child walking home from school, or the man you see in the library every day.  Hunger looks like you, and it looks like me, and it’s real.  Athens is my ray of sunshine; it gives me hope for the future that maybe one day, no children will have to go to school hungry ever again.    
ucmadmin Better Together

Worthiness (Community)

This week’s post is by Free Meal’s Intern and Better Together Committee Member Shea Daniels
 
I believe community is perpetuated when the worthiness of individual members is perpetuated. So often in spaces that are not the free meals program, I encounter humans disvaluing other humans and it makes me sad. I encounter humans saying mean things. I encounter poets asking engineers to write poems and engineers asking poets to build rocket ships. OK.  Not really. But I do encounter a lot of people who haven’t taken the time to see the gifts and talents of the folks around them, and end up frustrated because the folks around them aren’t meeting some pre-set list of expectations. It’s a matter of worthiness, folks, but it’s also a matter of humanity. Some people are great listeners, some people are great organizers, some people will reliably volunteer to eat the last piece of cake.  These are all fabulous skills, worthwhile skills, and skills that, once accessed, impact the entire community in real and positive ways. People thrive when their skills are recognized and accessed.
I also believe in greeting people warmly. I believe in hugging. I believe in waving. I believe in eye contact.  I believe in high fives and I believe in grinning when someone walks in the door. Did I mention that I believe in hugging? Fellow humans, everyone everywhere needs to know that their presence is appreciated. That they are valued, that they are missed. Communities thrive when members know their presence matters. 
Communities like ours thrive because of our members.  We’re radically inclusive. Everyone, literally everyone, is welcome. We’re not big on judgment and we’re not comfortable assigning social worth based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, native language, religion, or ability levels.  Our basement is a bit Real-World Exempt and, alas, the Basement Economy is also a bit Real-World Exempt. Because you see, loyal reader, here in UCM’s cellar we don’t really believe in a physical economy, even though we know it exists and we know it is useful. Here in the basement we run on a Spiritual Economy. On a non-tangible economy.
Here in the basement we work not only to provide warm, yummy, nutritious food, but also to create a sense of community. We believe people need food as much as they need community, maybe moreso, and we believe community comes when everyone who walks through our doors is treated as a person of value. As a person of worth.
ucmadmin Better Together

Washing Chairs and Waiting

This week’s post is from Better Together Committee Member and Free Meals Intern, Shea Daniels.
As Free Meals Interns Samantha, Michael and myself learned the economy was tanking long before any news broadcast told us. We have gone from feeding 50 on Thursdays this time last year, to 80+ each Thursday currently.  On Saturdays we serve about thirty. Times are tough. Donations aren’t going up. We aren’t like the fancy free meals programs who have the luxury of planning ahead; we run as close to 100% donations as possible. We walk in, see what food has showed up, and within three hours have compiled a meal from whatever is available. 
We believe there will always be food. Sometimes, on foodless days when it’s quiet, you can find me sitting patiently in the basement where our kitchen is located. If you were to ask “what are you doing Shea?” I would tell you, “I am waiting for the food.”  I sit and wait and sit and wait and sometimes, when the waiting stretches long, I turn on music and wash chairs to pass my time. I wash chairs and I wait for food.
It always comes. Someone always walks in with a box or a bag and in that box or bag will be cabbage or carrots or rice or corn. We wait for the food that is going to arrive, and always in the nick of time, it arrives
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Here in UCM’s kitchen we believe in the loaves in the fishes. “What is that,” you ask?  Well, dear reader, the fishes and the loaves is a Christian story.  Jesus, in his attempt to feed the masses, doesn’t have enough food. In fact he has far from enough food. I’ve heard this called the miracle of the multitude or the miracle of the five loaves and two fish.  This miracle fed 5000.
None of us in the kitchen particularly identify as Christian. I identify as something closer to Christian but not necessarily as Christian. Michael was raised in the Eastern Orthodox church and is a wanna-be Buddhist. Samantha was raised Jewish.  But we all believe in the fishes and the loaves.  Because we’re pretty sure that when you want to feed people, the food will always come. In fact, on quiet foodless days, you can find me listening to music, washing chairs, and waiting. 
ucmadmin Better Together

Profiles in Radical Hospitality

This week’s post is by Michael Lupsa, one of our free meals interns and a member of OU’s Better Together Steering Committee.  
I could not have even imagined the magnitude of change and growth that I would encounter whence I embarked on the wonderful journey that is my college career. I was nothing more than a lost child. In that mindset, where I lacked vast amounts of self-worth and was experiencing serious ugly-duckling syndrome, I could not help but feel that I was solely going to college just so I could survive it. I could never have anticipated that I would one day take my college experience and use it to make a serious difference.
It began with people believing in me. Once upon a time I was a freshman, cruising through my first year of college on auto-pilot and completing only the bare minimum of what was expected of me. Then, one day somebody said, “Hey, you should apply to the Global Leadership Center…you would be perfect for it.” A rather prestigious program, I was humbled by that person’s observation and desire to support me. The next thing I knew, I was accepted. Then, spring quarter rolled around, and somebody else said, “Hey, you should be president of CIAO!” A group vote later and I was suddenly president of the student organization. It wasn’t long until my sophomore year rolled along, and the expectations came along with it. I was suddenly entrusted with making sure that a student organization runs smoothly and grows, and such intensive academic work that even graduate students were surprised at the projects I was working on. Pursuing my passion for languages, I was also simultaneously taking Arabic and Italian, both subjects in which the instructors gave me countless accolades and support. The academic and developmental explosion that was my sophomore year landed me in Vietnam that winter break for the GLC’s International Collaborative Consulting Project and in Jordan the following summer on a Critical Language Scholarship. Suddenly, I returned to Ohio University my junior year, high expectations from everybody around me and having the power to actually make a difference. I used my previous experiences to be a more effective leader as the second-year president of CIAO, and grow the organization. I became an RA, where I got to apply much of my communications experience and make a difference in my residents’ lives. I sought out a leadership role in the Arabic department, now exemplified by my presidency of ALSA (the Arabic Student Language Association). What I initially did not seek out though, was my involvement with Better Together and UCM. However, it just so turns out that it might be one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
It began with my friend Rue, the Better Together campus organizer from last year, who would invite me to her events and try to prompt my involvement with the organization. Ice Cream for Life was entertaining, but the real catch was a spring awareness event about water insecurity; a prelude to the first Monday Creek Stream Cleanup. I was very moved by their presentation, and desired to get more involved with the organization. The stream cleanup itself sealed the deal, as I had so much fun, and did so by also doing something positive for the environment. The months following would seal the deal regarding my involvement with Better Together, and its accommodating organization, UCM.
I can almost remember the day in GLC class when Rue and Melissa, another member of the Better Together campaign, were attempting to talk me into joining the campaign. We were discussing how much I enjoyed working at the stream clean-up, and I was even considering volunteering at the Thursday Suppers and Saturday Lunches. I however considered myself to be too busy at the time, and as much as I liked it, I kept convincing myself that I just simply did not have the time. As the summer drew nearer, however, it became apparent that I would spend the season in Athens, and thus I was granted more time to get involved.
Laziness set in as summer classes and living a healthy lifestyle were some of my only priorities this summer, but with the added incentive of gaining some community service hours, I attended my first Thursday Supper. I can even remember my first time awkwardly entering the basement, wondering what I needed to do, and meeting the wonderful Shea Daniels for the first time. Shannon Stewart, on the other hand, I have known for quite a while. Working alongside these ladies had become one of the most pleasurable experiences imaginable, and the fact that I love cooking did not help the situation when I no longer had the need for community service hours. Before I knew it, I began treating UCM meals as if they were a necessary part of my life, even though I had no requirement to participate in them. They gave me such purpose, and the relationships that I established were so positive. Ultimately, I went from being a volunteer to feeling like I was an integral part of the UCM community. Then, one day as we were being introduced to a new intern I was tempted to ask, “What do you have to do to be an intern?” At which I received the response, “Well…exactly what you’re doing.” This was the moment! “Then I can be an intern?!” I exclaimed. “Sure!” I can somewhat almost picture Melissa’s, the executive director of UCM, response, and in a somewhat jokingly manner she did the hand-motions as if she was swearing me into the organization with a magic wand. Let me tell you…..this memory will stay burned into my mind for a long time! I was very happy.
ucmadmin Better Together

Living My Beliefs

This week’s post is from Rachel Hyden, OU’s Better Together campus organizer.
 
There is not a single thing in my life that is not affected by my core set of beliefs. Every action, every thought, every word I speak is connected to my morals and my ethics, which I define as my religion. For some, religion is considered just one aspect of who they are, as if it were simply a title like “student” or “activist”. But for me, my beliefs define the person I am, because I live what I believe.

So what are these beliefs that so fiercely drive my every move? As cliché as this sounds, I believe in the power of co-existence, or inter-being. Not only co-existence between humans, but of all things, sentient or not. I believe in the value of non-harming, and that we should make it our utmost priority to ensure no being suffers. I believe in truth, love, and above all, equality.
As an environmental activist, these beliefs fuel my fire in protecting this planet. To exist we depend on all things for life. The water we drink, the air we breathe, the soil to plant our crops. If we continue to exploit the earth as we have for so long, we will lose our access to these vital components that make our existence possible. Therefore, we must exist in harmony with all things, because our survival depends on the survival of everything else.
My belief in non-harming goes beyond the harming of just “beings”. We should protect all things from harm; trees, water, animals, and of course humans.  When we harm our planet and all things on it, we harm ourselves. We degrade our waterways, our air, our soil, and our quality of life, and in turn, we suffer. We must protect our planet if we want to protect ourselves.
           
The value of truth plays a major role in my activism. I work tirelessly on environmental issues to unveil the truth to the public. If major corporations are going to devastate the earth for financial gain, the public deserves to know. My love for this earth and all things is what keeps my chin up when the going gets tough. There are times when I want to give up, when I truly believe the battle is lost. But it is always the love for the beautiful things this world has to offer that mends my many wounds.
But despite the mending, I am still scarred from the injustices I see in my work—the deliberate taking of private land for oil and gas extraction; the stealing of public waters to taint with chemicals to fracture shale; the poisoning of our drinking water; the deforestation and destruction of ecosystems; the greed of those at the top, and the exploitation of those at the bottom. These injustices must be stopped.
We are all equal. Without one, the other can’t exist.
ucmadmin Better Together

Welcome to Winter Quarter at Ohio University!

Hi again!  *Waving.*  Shea here.  

This quarter our Better Together blog is going to feature profiles of volunteers, as well as continued blog posts by myself and other White House Challenge organizer Rachel Hyden.  Other folks, such as Michael Lupsa, a member of OU’s Better Together Steering Committee and one of our free meals program coordinators, will be writing about their experiences with interfaith work. 

From workshops and raising enough money to build a well in Africa to an interfaith valentine’s dance, from a day of poverty awareness to our free meals continuing to feed 100ish people a week, we’re busy here in Athens Ohio promoting interfaith cooperation.  But to mark the start of OU’s Winter Quarter and the flurry of Better Together activity, I thought a prayer might be appropriate.  So I’ll leave you with this indigenous prayer for interfaith harmony. 

See you next week!

Peace,

Shea

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True Path Walkers

To bring back the natural harmony that humans once enjoyed.
To save the planet from present practices of destruction.
To find and re-employ real truth.
To promote true balance between both genders.
To share and be less materialistic.
To become rid of prejudice.
To learn to be related.

To be kind to animals and take no more than we need.
To play with one’s children and love each equally and fairly.
To be brave and courageous, enough so,
to take a stand and make a commitment.
To understand what Generations Unborn really means.
To accept the Great Mystery
in order to end foolish argument over religion.
ucmadmin UCM Athens

Our Annual Holiday Letter

Dear Friends of UCM,
Really, I’d planned on a witty and entertaining holiday fundraiser, like last year and the year before. I thought I’d write a takeoff on “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” “On the first day of Christmas, my interns (or maybe donors) gave to me. . . .” But I never got that one written, and I think it’s because there’s something I need to say more.
We’re not always clear with you about what we do here at UCM, and why. You know a lot about us–about Thursday Supper and Saturday Lunch, about the alternative winter and spring break service/learning trips, about our stream cleanups and community service days and our interfaith organizing and community-building and our ministry to the LGBTQ community and our public witness on social justice issues. And I know you care that we feed the people we feed, and help the people we help, and clean up the things we clean up, and say the things we say. But sometimes we give you the idea that those things are at the heart of what we do, when really they’re the means to an end. And the end is . . . well, it seems silly when I write it out like this, but the end is to save the world.
First, last, and always, we are a campus ministry. And the students we serve have grown up and are coming of age in a world in need of fixing, one plagued by massive economic inequality and injustice, environmental havoc, and violent discord between people of different faiths. They have every reason to despair, to concern themselves with their own survival and to disregard the plight of others–and yet they yearn for the chance, and the spiritual energy and discipline, to make a difference. What we really do at UCM is give them that chance, over and over again. And over and over again, they’re transformed by the experience. Honestly? You and I will not be around long enough to fix everything that’s broken. Any fixing that gets done will get done by people, young now, who have felt this kind of transformation, who have learned how to connect the life they’re choosing for themselves with the things they believe in their hearts. For almost 60 years UCM has been a part of transformations like that.
At the same time, the institutional expressions of our various faith traditions–the denominations, associations, and other structures that support our various communities and movements–face dwindling resources, increased costs associated with their various ministries, and a suspicion among many younger people that the institutions themselves are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Often over the last decade or two these institutions have responded by diverting funds away from campus ministry–especially from ecumenical and interfaith ministries that aren’t explicitly identified with a specific denomination. So that chunk of our annual income has been shrinking–and we can expect it to keep shrinking.
This change in our funding stream is coinciding with two other changes–one you know about, and one you may not:
Change #1: The global economic climate. We share your pain on this one; like you, UCM is trying to make do with less, and like many of you we find ourselves faced with the possibility that we’ll simply have to DO less. But then there’s
Change #2: Despite the money thing, the relevance and effectiveness of UCM’s ministry is growing by leaps and bounds, more every year and especially this year. Whether you measure it by numbers of students participating in our programs, depth of their participation, or awareness of our ministry and mission in the campus community, UCM continues to make a difference here–and the difference we make continues to grow!
To borrow a question from our Interfaith Impact meetings, though — “so what?” For me the “so what?” is a two-part challenge from me to you.
Part #1: Think about UCM’s world-saving mission, our growing impact on the OU and Athens communities and our transformative influence on the students we meet. Decide how much that amazing work is worth to you. And support UCM to a degree that matches your commitment to the work we do.
Part #2: Help us to get to know the people you know who don’t know us. We need to reach more people with the good news of our ministry here at OU, and the best way to do that is to enlist you, who already believe in what we do, as our goodwill ambassador. Pick a few friends you think would feel as you do about us, and talk to them about why you support us. Encourage them to give us a call, drop by, or make a donation online through our website–we’d love to meet them!
Thanks to our generous donors, UCM has been blessed with meaningful work to do, and the means to do it, for nearly 60 years. Please consider making a contribution now to help us continue our world-saving work. UCM is a registered 501(C)(3) non-profit organization–your contributions are tax-deductible and will finance operating, facilities, and programming expenses. Thank you for your generous ongoing support–we couldn’t do it without you!
With best wishes from the whole UCM family–
Rev. Evan Young, Campus Minister
ucmadmin Better Together, Domestic Poverty and Food Insecurity, Interfaith Impact, Profiles in Radical Hospitality, White House Interfaith Service Challenge

Profiles in Radical Hospitality

Hi!  Shea here. *Waving.*  Here’s another Profile in Radical Hospitality, this one written by Allison  Schoeppner.  Allison is a regular at Thursday Supper and Interfaith Impact, and is on our White House Interfaith Challenge Steering Committee as well.

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I grew up in Athens and as a freshman I had a difficult time meeting people I could relate to and feeling a sense of belonging, which is why stumbling across UCM this year has been such a blessing. I first found out about UCM through the Better Together campaign and from that I began attending Thursday Supper and Interfaith Impact every week. What I love most about all of these activities is the openness of the people involved, everyone is friendly and easy to talk to. Not to mention, UCM focuses around the idea of being radically inclusive which exposes you to so many different types of people. The great thing about all of these people coming together at UCM is that although we may come from different backgrounds and have different opinions we can relate around the belief that all people/religions should be accepted. I feel that I have found a certain sense of belonging at UCM mainly because I feel like I will be accepted no matter what which is a fantastic feeling I can only describe is as being similar to belonging to a family.

–Allison