A spiritual connection

to my faithful readers, if I happen to have any faithful readers, I will warn you this week is my pondering of spirituality and social work.

This week I have enjoyed making connections between gospel principles and what I am learning in social work. In my classes we talk a lot about strength based practices. This means you focus on a person’s strengths to help them with whatever issue they are facing. I realized that this practice is like what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do for us. They love us unconditionally but not for who we are, but for who we can become. In the same sense they focus on our strengths and potential. Our strengths because they know that will help us reach our potential

This was poignant today because in church we talked about charity. I had the thought that strength based practice is a form of charity, looking for others strengths and potential, no matter what might be going on in their life. Since charity is the pure love of Christ, when we show Christ-like love, i.e. strength based love, we have charity.

Vehicular-Squirrel Slaughter (VSS)

This is not a real criminal act but it might as well be for how sad I felt after I committed VSS. Here is what the police deposition might look like if I was ever to be taken into custody for this crime:

It was lovely afternoon Friday September 7, 2007. Earlier in the day it had rained, perhaps causing unrest and a little depression among fury little creatures. I was driving home on Dexter road with my roommates, Margaret Bennett and Stephanie Rhodes, and as we were nearing our destination of 595 Landings Blvd a small woodland creature, which I identified as a squirrel, ran into the road from the right side. I swerved to miss him/her/it but because traffic was approaching in the other direction the creature suddenly started and turned around. It was right then that I felt a small bump and the creature met its maker.

Needless to say I was very startled and disturbed. After the screaming stopped and the laughing of my roommates subsided, I got a little teary-eyed. I am okay now but I feel a tinge of sadness every time I see a squirrel, and I swear they give me the evil eye knowing what I have done.

If any one has any comforting word to offer I would be most appreciative.

A week in Ann Arbor

This last week was a crazy roller coaster of emotions. Before I even got to Ann Arbor I got stuck in a three hour traffic jam outside of Chicago due to flooding. It was then I really questioned my decision to go to school in Michigan. All of these thoughts of self-doubt came up as I also worried about asphyxiating in my car because of all the stagnant running vehicles around me. After three hours I got out of that and made it to Ann Arbor much later than expected.

I got into my apartment the next day, Saturday. My apartment is a little further from campus than I expected. I was a bit down about that for awhile, but my spirits were rallied when I saw all the games of bear pong I would miss out on.

After two days of orientation and a day of field experience I am excited to start classes on Tuesday. The one damper being that Michigan lost its opening game to some no-name team. Well I think a lot of people know Appalachian State University now that they thrashed Michigan. I wish I could muster more regret for my team but I am quite apathetic. At least the boys soccer team won, and that's what's important