Life generally treats me pretty well

A while back I was feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, unhappy, and a bit sorry for myself. To put things back in perspective I looked at a postcard from Guatemala I have hanging above my dresser:



"Encuentro de dos Mundos" by Daniel Hernandez Salazar

Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words: it captures so many of the divisions in the world. For me it asks, in the words of the old labor song "which side are you on?"

It reminds me how much harder life is for most of the people in the world. Compared to walking for hours each day to carry water or gather fuel (as many women in Africa do) grading papers and reading political science, while not always fun, is a pretty good livelihood. It also reminds me why I'm doing this: because I hope that by getting my Ph.D. I'll be better able to stand in solidarity with people like the women in that photo.

Next to it I have a nice paper Willamette gave me with our motto ("Not unto ourselves alone are we born") and a greeting card from the Truman Foundation with an artistic rendering of a quotation from Robert Kennedy:

In the world and at home, you have the opportunity and the responsibility to help make the choices which will determine the greatness of this nation. . .

You live in the most privileged nation on earth. You are the most privileged citizens of that privileged nation; for you have been given the opportunity to study and learn. . .

You can use your enormous privilege and opportunity to seek purely private pleasure and gain. But history will judge you, and as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, on the extent to which you have used your gifts to lighten and enrich the lives of your fellow man.

In your hands, not with presidents or leaders, is the future of your world and the fulfillment of the best qualities of your own spirit.

All good reminders of the values I try to live by. I should find something that represents the Lutheran Volunteer Corps.