Be the Cause

My Change of Heart weekend

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I’ll keep adding to these lists, while I gather my thoughts. (I love the idea of blogs as as living documents) 

These are just humble (initial) ideas:

Things I learned

  • some ideas of about poverty
  • alot of people identify it as a dividing line between fortunate and unfortunate
  • there is a certain arrogance in our society that won’t allow us to ever come to terms with moving to make this world equal or just or truly free
  • city officals even pass laws saying that we cannot share food with the homeless, thinking that in some way that will encourage them to live as marginalized 3rd class citizens. I think one of the messages in serving the food is to show these “leaders” that we want to teach them to share.
  • the “engineer” in me views poverty as a self-made/man-made internal and external system that forces some marginalized part of society to view themselves through the eyes of those that fear and hate.
  • when the Long Beach Grand Prix come to town the cops are told to arrest people on unpaid “being homeless” citation. You too can be ticketed if found loitering or standing with a backpack on the sidewalk.
  • the field worker forced to work the Cocaine field in Peru is in poverty as is the young gang member in a gang module at County Jail, as is the person addicted to drugs, as is the little girl being abused by her father, as is the lonely forgotten senior citizen, as is the man labeld “deranged” my medical staff that don’t want to treat him properly for lack of a insurance card, as is the starving in Africa, as is the starving in America, as is anyone who feels opressed by the other side of society…
  • We should do a compassion cell with Lights Out pretty soon.
  • We should do a compassion cell with Dorinda (a fellow Carsonist and probably my favorite speaker)
  • I enjoyed this weekend as a camping retreat
  • A card board tent is not as effective as a card board blanket in keepig the cold off (unless it is sealed, but that makes it too stuffy to sleep).
  • We walk for hope every year, and I would love to riot for peace (this is an old thought that I was reminded of as we heard Dr ML King Jr inflect his voice).
  • I’m still a terrible public speaker
  • I was more talkative than usual
  • One of my friends was less talkative than usual and it made me think there was an internal tiredness about that person.
  • Ann is really cool. All the good things I heard about her prior to meeting her were exactly true. She don’t have to stress out about her jobby job so much. Easy for me to say…
  • thoughtfullness and sharing is good and humans are good at it.
  • Long Beach needs rent control and houses are way over priced. We are pricing ourselves out of good neighborhoods. A little house in a polluted county like LA should not cost $600,000. A elementry school teacher cannot afford to keep a 2 bedroom partment in Long Beach. 

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    Save Cafe in Long Beach till March 3rd

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    The Seva Cafe in Long Beach will continue to operate at the Royal Cup Coffee Shop every Saturday through March 3rd, 2007. We have realized that the Seva Cafe, at its core, is a place of genuine giving. When we give, in an unconditional way, we actually give rise to something deep and pure within ourselves. The Seva Cafe is unique, because not only do we give to others, but we also create an opportunity for others to do the same. The volunteers, the guests, and even the musicians all find themselves generating goodness when they enter those four walls.

    Over time, we have realized that the Seva Cafe is not about four walls. As one volunteer put it, the Seva Cafe is a “beautiful invisible” thing. If the Seva Cafe is indeed about genuine giving, then we can carry that with us everywhere we go, in our thoughts, our words and our actions. As such, the Seva Cafe, after March 3rd, will exist everywhere we are.

    After a short period of this so-called “internal cultivation”, we will get together again to decide if and when an external Seva Cafe should be re-created. We are open to suggestions and ideas (and venues) if you wish to share. Please continue to visit our website for on-going updates.

    We realize that the Seva Cafe has impacted many lives in many profound ways. The four walls that have helped create that atmosphere can never be overemphasized. For all of those that have been a part of this experiment thus far, we bow in gratitude for all that you have helped create.

    In addition to the love that we experienced every Saturday, as a component of this experiment we were able to contribute $3279.04 to the Gujarat, India based non-profit organization: Manav Sadhna. Not only did Manav Sadhna start the original Seva Cafe in India, but they also provide food, education, and health care to over 6000 slum children every day. You can always learn more about them at http://www.manavsadhna.org.

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