Spirituality: Being a Part of That Which is Bigger than Us

After concluding my class on spiritual care today I kept pondering over the meaning of spirituality. A word of the song came to my mind, “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.” I thought to myself, this is truly the essence of spirituality. It is not that we are small but being small in relation to that which is much bigger than us. Last Wednesday I was browsing through books at Borders and came across the writing of Richard Rohr. There was a quote in his book that stood out for me and it goes something like, “we have to realize that we are constantly a part of something that is much bigger. Spirituality is this recognition that there is something bigger than who we are.” I do not remember the exact quote but the idea is there. In the myth of the fisher king, the one thing that the young knight is supposed to ask the king upon retrieving the holy grail is, “to whom does it serve?” In R. Johnson’s archetypal interpretation of this statement he concludes that there is one thing that really matters to all of us and that is,  life’s final journey is to arrive at the conclusion “to God be the glory.”

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Sustainability and Local Economy

During the Anthropology of Mission class the question of sustainable development was raised when Martine Polycarpe, Director of Health at Adventist Development and Relief Agency, presented her view on the ethics of short-term mission.  She points out that development is effective only when it is sustainable and sustainability is possible when there are either continuity and/or connection/collaboration with the local community.  Without these two important factors, short-term mission may be at-risk of creating more harm than good.  This conservation was reinforced by a presentation on the topic of Globalization and Health by Dr. Pamela Brubaker, professor of Christian Ethics at Cal Lutheran.  There are many interesting point presented arguing that globalization emphasizing economic growth has caused more poverty than growth and that there are very few countries that have actually done well following the mandate of IMF.  After class I had the opportunity to talk to Joshua Friend (second year medical student at Loma Linda University) on how we, in our own way, can play a part.  Joshua suggests that one way to do it is to support local economy.  He sent a link that is very useful and a list of local business that he visits frequently.  So here they are: 

http://www.meetup.com/organicproduce/

Here’s just a short list of some of the local resturants that we enjoy

Naz-Gul – Pakistani food; A Dong – Vietnamese food; Thai house; El Pollo Rico – Peruvian food; Martha Greens – Bakery and Deli; Delhi palace – Indian food; Open Kitchen – Chinese food; Mikan – Sushi; Gourmet Pizza Kitchen – Pizza; Isabella’s – Italian food

Farmers Market on Thursday night in Redlands and Sunday morning in Loma Linda

 

 

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