Up on a Mountain

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn"
 --John Muir

I am lucky enough to have my wonderful boyfriend Joe live just about two hours away from me. Some would say that's still far, but it's much better than being states away! One of the best parts is that we each live somewhere distinctly different. I live in the city, thirty minutes from the beach and Joe lives in the mountains where seasons visit.

Together, we are lucky enough to experience all of it throughout the month when we visit.

This past weekend, I visited Joe at Lake Arrowhead as I often do, but this weekend was simply spectacular.

Friday night consisted of cooking a veggie medley for dinner, filled with mushrooms, squash, zucchini, asparagus and rice (delicious!) topped off with a nice glass of wine, and promptly followed by falling asleep early at 9:30. Quite the Friday night, right? ;)

One of the many things I love about Joe is that he gets out of bed before me, and always has breakfast ready to go! He is thoughtful and kind, and again, I am lucky! Saturday began with toast, mango and Pitch Perfect. After getting up and around we went for a brief walk at the Pinecrest camp, and then took a beautiful walk around Lake Gregory. 

 

A beautiful walk filled with conversation, laughter and sincere thought. It was a lovely afternoon, followed by a fun night with pizza, Planet Earth, and cosmic bowling!

Just when I thought my weekend getaway in the mountains couldn't get any better, it absolutely did.

Sunday morning breakfast topped off with mimosas was fantastic, but nothing will beat our afternoon outing. Joe and I went hiking at The Pinnacles, a beautiful and challenging hike further up into the mountains.

We hiked about 5 miles out and 5 back, hiking about 1,500 feet of elevation gained, finishing at about 7,500ft above sea level. It was tiring but beautiful and rewarding. It felt exhilarating to climb the rocks and get as high as we could--which we did! We climbed and wiggled our way to the highest peak and what we found was stunning.

Continuing a tradition passed along from my mother, and one that many practice, one of the first things Joe and I did was build our altar. 

"Altars symbolize a desire to manifest spiritual connection in our every day life, to bring the sacred into every thought, feeling and action"

We spent a good hour or so at the peak of this mountain, exploring, talking, laughing, kissing, smiling, and standing in awe.

"Most of the time, all you have is the moment, and the imperfect love of the people around you"

--Anne Lamott

When we had our fill, we began our descent. The way back is always easier. So we climbed, scooted, and jogged our way back down the mountain, laughing, panting, and chatting all the way. It was cold and windy, but we didn't mind, we had smiles plastered on our faces. 

This day we saw a new side of each other, childlike joy and playfulness. The beauty of every day discoveries in the one you love.

This day will stand out in my mind forever, because up on a mountain, I looked over at Joe and I knew. 

We both have so much going on in each of our programs, which is amazing. I'm thankful that we've each committed to year long work and programs that resonate with us and our values. There's still many months to go until our programs come to an end, but I cannot deny the peace within me that has come with the knowledge that wherever the next adventure takes us, we'll be going on it together...

God,

I am in awe of the beauty that surrounds me, 

the creation that you have made.

You set all things in motion,

and yet you still have time for me.

Thank you.

Thank you for the challenges you send my way.

Thank you for the joy that fills my heart.

Thank you for your patience and love.

Thank you for the beauty in my life,

thank you for the things that aren't as pretty,

the things that humble me.

Thank you for all the important relationships I have in my life.

Thank you specifically for Joe, and the happiness that we share.

Spirit, Help me to be open to learning.

Help me be patient and thoughtful.

Please grant Joe and I strength and courage

to love each other and love you. 

Help us be open to experiencing you.

Help us to discover the ways we can support and love each other.

Help guide us, 

help us live in a way that reflects our values, 

help us live in a way that is authentic and meaningful.

Thank you for your love, thank you for our love.

Amen.

A Different World

Living in LA has been such an eye opening experience for more reasons than I could count. Steady warm weather and sunshine is one clear benefit, living a half hour from the beach doesn't hurt either. Living with four other girls and sharing a bedroom is new, and working 8-5(or longer) and commuting and hour each way daily is a change too. Those are changes that I expected though, some differences are bigger than I'd ever imagined.

Growing up in Beavercreek, Ohio I had immense privilege. I was already aware of that, but seeing what I see everyday in LA made me feel raw and crawling with unearned, undeserved privilege. This article isn't going to be about my privilege, although that post may come on a later date when I've had more time to adequately formulate words that acknowledge the enormous amount of privilege that I have benefited and continue to benefit from in my life. Instead, I want to share some facts and figures that made my mind stumble, and compare/contrast Los Angeles and my hometown.

This is an image I see daily, and I'm not even close to exaggerating when I say that. Street homeless keep their belongings in carts, which makes it easier for them to move if needed.

254,000 Men, women and children will experience homelessness in LA at some time during the year.

On any given night 82,000 people will be homeless in Los Angeles.
*in Dayton, there are 1,000 people homeless on any given night

12% of the homeless population are families with children.

1 in 3 homeless adults have mental and/or physical disabilities

1 in 4 homeless adults are chronically homeless, meaning that they have disabling conditions and are experiencing long term street homelessness.

I feel that it's important to note that these numbers only include those persons who are 'literally homeless' meaning they are 

1. Sleeping in places not meant for human habitation, including on the street, in parks, along rivers, in backyards, unconverted garages, cars and vans, along freeways or under overpasses, and the like;

2. Sleeping in emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing programs and were homeless upon entry into the program.

These numbers do not reflect other forms of homelessness that I find is prevalent with the clients I work with, such as rotating sleeping on friends or families couches, hopping around to different motels, etc. I would call this transient homelessness, that have no permanent residence, which creates extreme instability.

It may be hard to believe, but this is what I see every day. I have never witnessed so many homeless people in my entire life. I think what really hit me was realizing that they are not just staying in a downtown area, like many of us are accustomed to seeing. I see homeless people every day, outside of my work, living by the highways on my drive to anywhere, in the metro stations, outside of my grocery store, in my neighborhood.

I've always been able to escape it. Most people are able to leave areas of homelessness and return to their homes in their comfortable neighborhoods and they no longer have to see or think about it again for a while. It's like it doesn't happen if you don't see it. But I can't stop seeing it, and I also can't stop the problem of homelessness. It's so much bigger than me, it's bigger than the people living it. And I'm left every day questioning how do we make a change?

Often times Matthew 25:35-40 plays in my mind, and I wish that I could say I follow it. I try hard each day, but I'm not perfect. And then I remember that I have no right to place judgment on others. I am called to serve, we are all called to serve. How are you serving your community? Are we doing all we can? Are we engaging not only in acts, but in conversations that change the way we look at poverty in our country? Are we ready to remove judgment and bias from our being and instead actively work towards a society that sees the dignity of every human being and honors that?

What will it take to for us to lay down our pride and selfish wants and desires to live a life of authenticity, passion, love, and mercy? What will it take for us to be humble?

I wanted to learn more about my neighborhood, so I did a little digging, and what I found was pretty interesting. Firstly, I live in Koreatown which is in central LA. I live with four other girls on the first floor unit of a rectory turned duplex. 

The neighborhood of Koreatown is 4 square miles. My hometown of Beavercreek is about 26 square miles. Get this: my neighborhood holds 3 times more people than my entire hometown. How wild is that? 

Ethnicity is one of the largest differences that I see in front of me every day. It is a huge change for me to be a minority in my neighborhood. 87% of residents in Beavercreek are White, whereas 7.4% of residents in Koreatown are White. 85.7% of Koreatown residents are Hispanic and Asian. In general Koreatown is considered highly diverse for the city of LA, and for the country. 

28% of the residents in my neighborhood fall below the poverty line, 4% of Beavercreek residents fall below the poverty line.

40% of people in my neighborhood did not finish high school and did not earn a GED/equivalent. This is 9.7% of Beavercreek residents.

The median Beavercreek household income is $74,533.00

The median Koreatown household income is $34,136.00

In 2012, Beavercreek had a total of 130 crimes.

Koreatown had a total of 231 crimes in August alone.

I'm not sharing these statistics because I feel unsafe in my neighborhood and wish I was back in Beavercreek. I'm sharing them because if I had never left my hometown, I could easily forget how privileged I am. I don't want to live in a way that chooses to be blind to the struggles of their neighbors. I am choosing to live in a way that reinforces my passion for social justice. I am choosing to live in a way that reminds me every single day that our society is broken and that we need to fix it. If not us, who? If not now, when?

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"