a little pilgrimage

St. Mary’s Convent, Sewanee, TN

Spring Break 2007

Spring Break in Nashville

Though you can’t tell because of the flash … this putt putt is glow in the dark – I’m bad enough at putt putt in the light, I can’t imagine trying to get it in the hole in the dark?

and who can’t have fun at Old Navy right?  Leave it to David to find the blow-up dog

Sacred Space

So it’s still the season of Fasting in the church (let alone our 30 hour fast last weekend)…  it’s the season of cleaning out and making room… it’s the season of giving up something we are attached to so that we might have more room for what’s really important in life …  so that we might have more room for God.

so when you make this room – this space – what do you do with it?

if you give up Starbucks or chocolate or snacks or myspace … what are you putting in it’s place?

How about this …  what if the "space" or the "room" we create in Lent through fasting could be made holy?  what if it could become sacred space or holy ground … kinda like Moses and the Burning Bush from last Sunday’s Old Testament reading?    

What if we actually carved out -p hysically – a little space for God during Lent?  a little corner, or a little shelf or a comfy chair or even a closet — what if we carved out room for God physically in our living space?     Space that somehow says to God:    "Welcome.  Welcome.  We have room for you here in our living space …"   Now that would be making Lent!

Or what if we carved out time — carved out space in our day, in our lives, in our daily routine?  what if we said, God we have room for you in our day – in our daily lives!   what if we carved out 5 – 10 mins a day for God to make holy.     I’m assuming that most of you spend at least 5 mins a day on the internet … what if that time could be made holy?  what if time on the internet could be holy time? holy ground? sacred space?    These Irish Jesuits have done it …   SacredSpace, check it out … space and time made holy by saying welcome God.   (www.sacredspace.ie)

Holy Space.   Holy Time.   That’s what Lent calls us back to.

It is finished …

THANK YOU ST. PAULS

Dear Father Bob and congregation of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church,
      For 10 years we have been asking for money for the 30 Hour Famine, for 10 years we’ve been trying to make life as it should be, for 10 years lwe’ve been carrying out Gods plan for a better life, for 10 years we’ve been making a difference. That differnece isn’t just the youth but everyone at St. Pauls. That now 70,000 dollar difference. That difference has changed lives of hundreds mabye thousands of children, families, and villages. We couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for helping FILL THIS VOID!

      Part of the Make Povery History campaign is called Fill The Void, but this void is not only hunger, this is also a spiritual void that is inside ourselves. Only God can fill this void, and that is what we have done together, fill our voids and the childrens.

Thanks again for helping us fill our voids with God, and fill the voids of those around the world.

_Maggie, Charlotte, and the Youth at St. Paul’s

iiit’s…SERVICE PROJECT TIME!!!!!!!!

so a HUGE part of the thirty hour famine is doing service porjects. after all, this is all about helping those in need…whether that’s giving food, or money, or shelter, or simply our time.

some of us went to a local library to help cut out paper frogs for preschoolers. small, yes, but a service to someone.

some went to another episcopalian church, but this one is in downtown nashville. our youth helped build a garden there for the homeless people whom the church helps.

others went to a train museum to wash trains. i know. i’m jealous too

the rest of us stayed here cleaning up our awesome church. some helped organize our youth room (after a surprise to our glorious sally arrived to our youth building: IT HAD BEEN COMPLETELY EMPTIED!!! AHHHHHH!!!!). others helped do little things around the church, from transporting juice to dusting the sanctuary. i helped to polish brass and silver (fuuuuun fumes, let me tell ya…oi vei), then helped paint a fence on the church property (again, fumes [this time combined with freezing cold wind] are sooooo nice to those of us with horrific allergies).

now, we’re watching Invisible Children. i’ve seen it before…but it’s still  as shocking in my mind….

i forget how often i need to be reminded that others have struggles worse than mine.

i forget how often i need that little nudge…..a little kid saying "hey, do you see me? do you rememeber me? can you help me?"

i forget that not only do i need to help, but i can help. see, so often, we say "we need to do that" or "we should do that"…..but do we ever simply say "we can do that"….i find that more often i react to a cause when i find i can do something, not simply that i need to.

today, we as a youth helped many people across nashville today. raising money, we helped those across the world. but today we also helped ourselves by helping others.

because we can.

–charlotte.

Hello.

hey, it’s day two of the 30 hour famine! we’ve already been about 26 hours without food, so only four hours to go. we’re watching a movie type thing about the Invisible Children. Which i’ve never heard of. We all just finished service projects and are looking for ways to pass time until 6:30.

-Mary Kate

Podcasts 2-8

Alex again. Posted the rest of the podcasts. Enjoy!

2. Andrea

3. Joey

4.

5.

6. Our Little Ones! (first timers)

7. Bailey2!

8. Bailey 1!

Podcasts!

Hey everyone, Alex here. Just posting our new podcast. I’ve put up the first of 8, which are all 30 Hour Famine related. So take a minute to hear what Sally and some of the youth have to say about the Famine, and look forward for more to come!

-Alex

Download FP1.mp3