A long awaited update, I know. I admit that blogging is a difficult thing, but everything seems at the same time too ordinary to write about and too indescribable for words. Still, I'll do my best. Let me warn you though that it is heavy on spirituality and theory, since that's kind of what we've been doing. If that doesn't interest you, feel free to skim... after orientation I'll have more activities and cultural excitements to describe!
We have just finished day 16 of our orientation, which will end this Friday. I have learned so much about the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, mission, the church, culture, community, etc. It's been a very rich experience, so let me try to share pieces of what I've learned...
On our second day, Sr. Corine talked to us about CCVI (abbreviation for the congregation) history. If you'd like to learn about it, you can find it on their website, I won't bore you with all the details right now. However, she did make some interesting points about women religious in general, especially the fact that they really led the women's empowerment movement in the US (and still are around the world). She said that women religious are the most educated group of women in the US and that religious women were the first women to hold administrative positions, especially in schools and hospitals. For Mom and Dad, she also talked to us about our parents, and that we need to understand how difficult it is let a child leave home and enter into the unknown, and that "they will be blessed, too, for that."
We spent time with Sr. Rosie and Sr. Tere Maya talking about CCVI spirituality and charism, delving more deeply into discovering who Jesus really is and how the sisters live out their missions. Sr. Tere Maya emphasized that the charism of the congregation is not "historical," but is about recognizing the needs of the times. Their charism statement is beautiful: "That the love of God, as it is made manifest in the Incarnation, be made real and tangible in the world today." The love that Jesus gave us is the love we are called to give each other! By becoming human, God "dignifies our human condition to the level that is is divine." Being fully human is not only good, but divine, of God!
We have also studied a bit of Christology and Ecclesiology, and if you want to hear more about those discussions, you can e-mail me. I don't think it would be the most interesting read! Basically, we are gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be a missionary in the catholic church today... i.e. building relationships, sharing love, etc.
I should also tell you that my departure date has been delayed to Sept. 9 due to visa delays. Kelli and I will be staying here in San Antonio working with the sisters on some projects and in some classes at the university. It is a little disappointing but I think it will be a really good time! One of our sites in Chimbote will be helping to establish a branch of Women's Global Connection, which you can read about on their website,
womensglobalconnection.org. They are doing some research and work with the program here in SA so we will get to learn more about that!
I will leave you with a few reflections from our retreat this past Friday and Saturday. It was really beautiful, at a retreat center on a nice piece of parkland in the city, with a pond, great climbing trees, and a labyrinth. There was one tree overlooking the pond that I climbed a couple times, and I could watch as five or so turtles slowly swam to the shore and rested on the banks. It was really nice to feel like I was escaping from the city. Anyway, here are a few art projects I made there and some explanation to help you understand where I am right now...
This is a door tag to the door of me! We were directed to decorate a door tag with images or words that signified the message we want to radiate to others. I wrote, "Aqui estoy, contigo," which means, "I am here, with you." I first chose "I am here" as a humble offering of myself and my desire to be in relationship, recognizing that I may not be able to help, per say, but that I am offering my presence. I added "contigo" to remove the emphasis from myself and instead emphasize being present to the individual in front of me.
This is an oil crayon image that I drew in response to a reflection on the fact that God really came to earth and really cares about human beings! It spurred from a poem about a little girl telling the Christmas story, which ends with, "And she jumped in the air, whirled round, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion, which is the only proper response to the Good News of Incarnation." So... we were asked to think about our response to this Good News. I went out by the pond and sat observing and meditating and this is what I came up with! It is a spider, just beginning a web. The metaphor is something like this... a spider, when setting out to build a web, has to contribute the materials and energy for the project, but then relies upon the breeze to carry it where it may, and there it begins building. I feel a bit like the spider in midair, trusting the Spirit or love or my deepest desire (whatever you choose to call it) to lead me where it may.
Finally, this is a symbol of my holiness! Or, at least, what my symbol would be if I were to achieve sainthood :) We were asked to imagine that Sr. Bridget Marie (leading the retreat) did a Google search for holiness, and our name popped up. What would the blurb say? What symbol would represent us? So, it's looking at what we hope to become or the way we strive to live.... the symbol is hands (working in the world) holding out a yellow light (warmth, light, self-gift) with a blooming flower (recognizing room for development and learning and growth).
My self-description is this: She never doubts the sincerity of others, but meets each person with gentleness and gratitude. This is not due to naivety, for she has a grounded sense of reality, but due to her belief that as a community and by the grace of God, we can each move beyond our limited sense of the possible into a reality where peace and common dignity triumph.
Ah, and tonight we met with some sisters and some students from the University of the Incarnate Word. The students are all involved in campus ministry leadership, so it was very interesting to hear some of their perspectives. One of the sisters shared about a homily she heard this weekend, in which the priest said the line that titles this entry, so that's where it came from! I think it sums up the last 2 weeks quite well.
So, if you made it all the way through, congratulations and thank you for reading! I apologize for any typos or poor writing... I kind of went straight through and wrote because I knew if I thought about it too much I would end up writing nothing (and I'm too sleepy to proofread!). If you want to know more about anything or if I failed to tell you about something that you want to know, e-mail me! emilyruskamp@gmail.com
Paz, laughter, and all good things,
Emily
Well I've now completed by second complete day in Peru, both of them spent in Lima. It is a fascinating city, a disturbing combination of neatly-trimmed and manicured parks and half-finished cement block homes tightly lining most of the streets. Areas of the city are very attractive, and we enjoyed a nice walk along the ocean and through some nice parks where there are bike paths, young professionals walking their dogs, and diversity. We attracted very little attention in that part of town.
As we were walking to catch a bus to go home from the party, we stopped at a monument there and Rosaleen told us a story. I don't want to shortchange the immensity of the event by describing it briefly here, so please forgive me for not giving it due detail and emotion, but I think it offers a very slight taste of Peru's historical reality and the presence of the sister's and other members of the Church within that reality. Seven people were killed in that place by the police in 1989. One of them was an Incarnate Word sister, the rest were inmates from the prison who escaped in protest of poor living conditions. They took the whole ministry team hostage, and the police opened fire on them (knowing they were unarmed). The sister was the first one shot and killed, and after that they men from the prison put their other hostages on the ground and covered them with their own bodies to protect them; no other hostages were killed. Six of the nine men from the prison were killed. Even after a life hardened by who-knows-what kind of upbringing and life in one of the most notorious prisons in the world, these men had the compassion to protect their hostages. I have yet to reflect more fully on that event.
