JVC Fall Retreat

Last weekend I went down to Colby Ranch, about an hour north of Los Angeles, for the JVC fall retreat. It was cold and fairly miserable and in the middle of nowhere without any cell phone reception, both of which the JVC staff failed to warn us about. Not exactly the sunny southern California weather I’d been hoping for—it was more like a not so beautiful version of Colorado.

Now that I have that out of my system, I will say that it was nice to get away from Oakland for a couple of days and have some time to reflect. One of the activities was a guided meditation followed by some pseudo-psycho-mumbo-jumbo molding of clay, I’m not quite sure. Many people made leaves, trees, bridges, waves and all different kinds of elaborate very artistic sculptures, but I decided to shape a clay sphere—partially because I wasn’t overly enthused about the activity, but not entirely.

It has been just over two months since starting JVC, and like the transformation from a block of clay into a sphere, the transformation has been slow and subtle. The way I view my interactions and place in the world has shifted and certainly the way I look at homelessness and other marginalized-populations has changed as well. This is not to say I have become a great person, because I haven’t. I still like to make too many generalized, sweeping, often offensive comments, and that probably won't change, but perhaps they’re now done with more thought and compassion.

One entry in Christian Lander’s popular blog, “Stuff White People Like,” is:

#62, "Knowing What's Best for Poor People." ("It is a poorly guarded secret that, deep down, white people believe that if given money and education that all poor people would be EXACTLY like them.")

In an interview that appeared in the East Bay Express Lander said, "That's kind of ridiculously condescending and unfair, but that was absolutely the way I thought. And I still do."

Lander’s comments are intentionally outrageous but also somewhat true, and the idea of recent college graduates with little experience helping the homeless, mentally ill, abused, etc. is equally absurd at best. It is also beautiful, naïve, refreshing and something the world needs more of.

The ball of clay also represented not dwelling upon what could have been, or how things should have been, but coming to peace with the reality of a situation.

Talking with many other JV’s at retreat there was often a sense of disappointment, that things were harder or less exciting and meaningful than they had hoped. It was the realization that we don’t have all the answers and that change is slow and plodding and dirty and tiring and doesn’t happen overnight. Change starts with a load of laundry, a shower, a hygiene kit and conversation over a cup of coffee.

"The mysterious route of faith and love that led Peter and Paul from their native land to Jerusalem, then to other parts of the world, and finally to Rome, is a model of the journey that every Christian is called to accomplish to witness to Christ in the world."
-Pope John Paul II