How Amy came to Bethany House

God moves in mysterious ways.  I had no idea at the beginning of 2011 that I would be working – and living! – in Trenton by the end of the year.  I had worked in a large law firm in Manhattan for eight years and lived in Bergen County for most of my life.  Then, through God-ordained

circumstances, I got a job in Trenton and heard about Bethany House from a friend at Princeton Theological Seminary when I asked her whether she knew anyone in the area who was looking for a roommate.  She sent me the Bethany House flyer, and the possibility of living in an intentional Christian community immediately interested me.  In my e-mail to Pastors Karen and Nina, I noted that I might not be an ideal applicant, because I was a 35-year-old lawyer rather than a young adult volunteer or seminarian serving in the City of Trenton.

I started my job on September 6 and lived in temporary housing while waiting to hear whether I would be invited for an interview.  I was really glad when I was and I remember getting a tour of Bethany House, which was still being renovated, and sitting at the dining room table with Pastors Karen and Nina and later Jacque.  Our diversity was so beautiful to me and I was very hopeful about living at Bethany House.

Then I had to wait for several weeks to find out whether I would be accepted as a resident.  During this time, I wondered which way God would lead me.  I am so glad that I was accepted.

I was supposed to move into Bethany House on Saturday, October 29, when the house first opened, but a surprise snowstorm kept me away.  (Erin actually drove through the snowstorm!)  I ended up driving down to Trenton on Sunday, October 30 and was greeted at the door by Jacque.  It was great to see him again and then to meet Erin and Elizabeth and Kamran for the first time.  I also was grateful that Bethany House had electricity because I had lost it in Bergen County due to the snowstorm.  We spent some time in the kitchen, which was brand new, and I went straight to work organizing the cabinets.  We unpacked the dishware and kitchenware that had been donated (thanks very much to the churches/individuals who gave so generously!) and tried the dishwasher for the first time.  Then we picked our rooms and settled in.

Writing from Within

“Using a Journal to Examine Your Soul

The original Anglo Saxon word writan, from which we get the wore write, meant to score, scratch or cut. Writing was accomplished by scratching wood with a knife. Many remember seeing the names of lovers cut into a tree trunk with a knife. There is an indelible, even artful quality about letters cut into the piece of bark. The same indelible and artful quality can be experienced when we “cut” with a pen the words of heart onto a blank piece of paper.

Journaling as a spiritual practice is a way of creating a legacy of your life. The poet Ranier Maria Rilke wrote, “Everything is gestation and then bringing forth.” The practice of journaling invites that gestation that will bring forth the most important and meaningful aspects of our inner life. In so many arenas of life we are called upon to produce quickly, consume quickly, think quickly, talk quickly, act quickly, create quickly. Perhaps, for our own sense of well-being and wholeness, we need to reclaim the privilege of thinking deeply and feeling fully. Like a seed breaking forth from its pod, our thoughts and feelings deserve to break forth from the pod of our soul. And there on the waiting page they can be given voice and form, shape and image.

The empty page is always ready to receive the contents of your heart without judgement. Because of this, we can be free to speak truthfully and as the legacy is gradually formed, we can read again the movement of life through our veins. We can see where we have come from and how life and the presence of the Holy One have fashioned and formed us into who we are. So try writing your life in order to find your life.”

 

Long after hurricane, TCNJ scholars continue to help rebuild New Orleans | NJ.com

One of the students who accompanied us on the trip down to New Orleans, Dave Karas, is a writer for the Trenton Times. He wrote this story, which ran on the front page this past Saturday.

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2012/01/long_after_hurricane_tcnj_scho.html

New Orleans: Day 5

We have been in New Orleans for 5 days now and we have seen so much, the most striking to me is the resilient spirit of a city that’s been through so much. As we toured the lower 9^th Ward, the area most devastated by Katrina, I saw a place that has no momentum. It is sparse to say the least, as a block that once had 20 houses on it now hosts 3. There are still large deposits of waste with whole lots composed of consolidated destruction. As we drove through what hit me hardest was not the trash or vacant lots but how there is no current construction—not a single project. I have difficulty believing it will ever resemble the neighborhood it was before the storm.

In contrast to this dreary picture, I remember standing on the levy that broke with our group. I was taking pictures of the landscape and one of the residents saw me and raised his arms in an exuberant gesture; characteristic of a man who, despite the tragedy, refuses to let Katrina define him. Defiant. Resilient. Proud.

As our trip moved on, the same spirit personified by that man in the lower 9^th proved evident everywhere we went. It’s in the organizations that we’re working with. It’s in the 12 piece brass bands that play on the sides of the street. It’s in the warm, welcoming personality of the city. It’s an encompassing and contagious spirit that one can’t help but learn from and hope to emulate.

-jamie hollerith

Interfaith Gathering of Thanks

To set the tone for our evening we listened to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s version of Silent Night juxtaposed with the 7:00 news.

We then asked what similarities does today’s news have to this broadcast, specifically – Have we made progress? To join in to the discussion shared at this gathering, we ask you to share your thoughts on the question posed and also what you were thankful this holiday season.

Thank you.

New Orleans Eve

I have known that I would be lucky enough to join the service trip to New Orleans for several months now and it’s hard to believe we leave tomorrow. With helping to prepare and watching “When the Levees Broke”, this ethereal NOLA dream has slowly started to become a reality. I could not be more excited and am incredibly grateful for the chance to go.

I’ve seen many of my friends go for trips quite similar to that which we are about to embark on and though I’ve read stories and watched the news and documentaries on the storm and its aftermath, it’s clear that the perspective one gains from visiting and serving in the city is not replicable on the internet. There has not been a friend who has returned without an almost tangible sense of gratitude, humility and new perspective and I look forward to learning as they have.

Since I’ve never really seen a recovery process like this without the lens of media it’s hard for me to get a sense of what it is going to be like down there, but what I do know is that this is a rich opportunity in front of us. It’s chance to help the people of New Orleans, a chance to build relationships, and, most importantly, a chance to learn from their experience and what qualities have pulled them collectively and individually through such hardship.

This is going to be cool…