Wednesday, December 20, 2006
The semester ends.... finally
Hallelujah.

I've spent the last four days holed up in the house working on a research paper on refugees. I just emailed it away, and so my semester finally ends.

I don't really know what to say.

Greg has set up a blog to keep up with Barb's progress: How's Barbara Doing? Today is more of the same: high heart rate, low blood pressure, doses of morphine.

My car is at the shop getting the center console fixed back up. So I'm at the hospital, sitting the waiting area, waiting for the call to pick up the car. Among the things taken was the face plate off the stereo (but not the stereo), so I'll have to make a trip to Circuit City next to take care of that. I want to punch the thieves in the face for the sole reason that they made me go to Wal-Mart the week before Christmas.

Both Alan and Kevin have been reflecting about what ol' St. Benedict was up to. Here's a sample:
Simple. Regular. Total. A way of living. Not a way of serving.
This nailed me with particular force this morning. Monasticism (the old or the new, cloistered or friar-ed) was never intended to be a program or an add-on. It is total. It is baptism. It is immersion... in a whole new way of being.

In my refugee research, I found a handful of very helpful and interesting websites. Here's a few:

UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency
Lots of basic stuff here--international news, statisitics, humanitarian info.

Ninemillion.org
This one is a UN-led campaign to raise awareness about the 9 million refugees across the world who children and youth, as well as raise funds for education and sports programs.

Church World Service
This is an American agency that specializes with resettlement. Lots of great resources here including statistics as well as a "Refugee's Journey."

Kentucky Refugee Ministries
This is a local agency partnered with CWS. Their main office is in Louisville with a sub-office in Lexington. I had the opportunity to volunteer with them for a few hours several weeks ago. I know that our church is currently exploring ways to sponsor local refugee families through KRM.

posted by Peter at 12:53 PM
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