Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Day 2
Phew. Long day. We are technically part of the Ecumenical Women Delegation (the largest NGO at the CSW, apparently), so we spent the day with all of the delegations under Ecumenical women. It started with an 8:30 service (which will happen every day this week), then orientation/ advocacy training until 4:30, another service to end the day, and a reception.
After that we had free time, so I went to dinner at an Afghani restaurant and then to a bar with my sister and mom (who is visiting New York for the weekend!). It was great to see them, and the food was amazing. And moms always have such helpful reminders--guess who forgot that financial aid applications are due in two days? Yup, tonight's going to be fun...
I thought a lot today about the ways in which we approach injustice in the world. Being concerned for the lot of others is obviously a positive attribute, but I sometimes worry that concern can turn into pity in unproductive ways. I often think about this as a distinction between wanting to save the world and wanting to serve it. Saving entails acting as a savior for victims with no agency of their own, whereas serving entails doing our part to support and empower people who do have their own voices and own ideas (and this often requires questioning our own contributions to systems that prevent those voices from being heard). I worry that we lose respect for people when we treat them as hapless victims and assume that we are the solution to their problems. While Margaret Mead's famous quote about a small group of committed citizens changing the world is inspiring, I've grown increasingly wary of the idea--I don't think one small group should speak for everyone. I hope that I can keep all of this in mind over the course of the Commission.
This is entirely random, but until today I never thought about the implications of Jesus being a man. I always thought of Jesus as a man, but I never thought about him as not a woman. It's interesting to think about how that affects our conceptions of holiness and religious authority.
I'm getting really excited for Monday, when actual plenary sessions and side events and caucuses will start. And it's also been great getting to know the other Episcopal Young Adult Delegates--it's a pretty cool and diverse group of people. This should be a fun week!
After that we had free time, so I went to dinner at an Afghani restaurant and then to a bar with my sister and mom (who is visiting New York for the weekend!). It was great to see them, and the food was amazing. And moms always have such helpful reminders--guess who forgot that financial aid applications are due in two days? Yup, tonight's going to be fun...
I thought a lot today about the ways in which we approach injustice in the world. Being concerned for the lot of others is obviously a positive attribute, but I sometimes worry that concern can turn into pity in unproductive ways. I often think about this as a distinction between wanting to save the world and wanting to serve it. Saving entails acting as a savior for victims with no agency of their own, whereas serving entails doing our part to support and empower people who do have their own voices and own ideas (and this often requires questioning our own contributions to systems that prevent those voices from being heard). I worry that we lose respect for people when we treat them as hapless victims and assume that we are the solution to their problems. While Margaret Mead's famous quote about a small group of committed citizens changing the world is inspiring, I've grown increasingly wary of the idea--I don't think one small group should speak for everyone. I hope that I can keep all of this in mind over the course of the Commission.
This is entirely random, but until today I never thought about the implications of Jesus being a man. I always thought of Jesus as a man, but I never thought about him as not a woman. It's interesting to think about how that affects our conceptions of holiness and religious authority.
I'm getting really excited for Monday, when actual plenary sessions and side events and caucuses will start. And it's also been great getting to know the other Episcopal Young Adult Delegates--it's a pretty cool and diverse group of people. This should be a fun week!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Day 1
Welcome to my (pathetically?) minimalist blog. A little about what this is: I'm attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) as part of the Episcopal Young Adult Delegation. I'll be here for a week. There's not too much to write for today, since I spent most of the day in New Haven before taking the train in, but tomorrow should start full force (beginning with a group breakfast at 7:15 a.m., an hour of the day that I have not seen in a long time... the reversal of the senior sleep schedule begins now).
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