Compassion and Spritual Leader fest in the USA!

Just in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, the United States is being graced by the presence of two of the most well known spiritual leaders in the world, the Dalai Lama and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Living in Seattle, it seems that "compassion" has been quite the buzz word. The Dalai Lama, exiled spritual leader of Tibetan buddhism, was brought to Seattle by for the Seeds of Compassion conference ending earlier this week. Now as those of you who know me surely know, I am not Buddhist, however I think that the Dalai Lama said some very important things that should be heeded by everyone regardless of their religious beliefs. He spoke very candidly about forgiveness and reconciliation and many times about the importance of performing acts of charity, kindness, respect and justice for others...in short, treating them with compassion. Coming at this issue from my Christian understanding, I have to agree. Jesus, through his acts in the Gospels, exemplified a compassionate interaction with those around him. We only need look at the stories of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), the woman at the well (John 4:1-42),countless miracles and stories of faith presented in the bible. While Jesus never condoned acts that were sinful and evil, he treated all those he interacted with as children of God, and thus, His own brothers and sisters. We are called to that same kind of love! While not easy, we have the stories of saints, the teachings of the Church and the Word of God to guide us. How easy is it to look to someone like Mother Teresa, now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, to see an example of someone who worked so hard to emulate Christ. I hope that the Dalai Lama's words will not soon be forgotten, and I really hope it is listened to by people who feel wary of other organized religion and wouldn't hear it there. While I still hope and pray that they might reconsider their stance on Christianity, maybe this is a way for them to really hear what a compassionate life should look like.

Onto other religious leaders, His Holiness Pope Bendict XVI has arrived in the U.S.! Being a young Catholic today, this is very exciting, especially since this is his first U.S. visit. I have been very pleased with His Papacy thus far, and am really excited by the focus he has placed on love. In fact, I am hoping to read his first encyclical (I know, I know, I'm a little behind!) Deus Caritas Est, or simply, God is Love very soon. He will be visiting Washington D.C. and New York and taking advantage of the hugeness of baseball stadiums to celebrate Mass for a very large group of people. I pray for his safety while he is here, as well as all those who are traveling to see him, and hope that people might be open to hearing what he has to say. Sadly the horrible actions by a few priests in the sex abuse scandals have shattered lives and made many turn from listening to the vast majority of good faithful priests and the wisdom passed down through the Church over 2000 years. Pope Benedict has much to give and many things to say that our country desperately needs to hear. Christ is our hope, may we open our ears to hear His word in our society today.

Okay, enough editorializing, I should go study for my Kinesiology exam :)

Happy Day

The Office is back with new episodes...all is right with the world again :)

Back again

Hmmm...yeah so I guess my dropping off the blog radar happens not just at the end of the quarter but at the beginning too... oh well. That's right I've just started my third quarter of PT school. It really feels like I just started, but I'm getting close to a third of the way done...eep! I feel like I'm floating in this strange place between crazy excitement and sheer terror at being this much closer to being a clinician. Well, I guess terror is somewhat of an overstatement. When I stop to think about just how much I've learned in these last few months, it really is mind-boggling. And as for being one step closer....I have my summer internship assignment! I'll be working for four weeks at an outpatient clinic in Federal Way, not too far from my house. I'm pretty excited to be able to get some real hands-on experience, but know I'll have to do a lot of review from my procedures classes to prep.

As for this quarter, it already has a completely different feel than the others...mainly I think this is because of the advent of the three-hour class, yes I have three of them. Luckily my professors are wonderful about giving breaks, it pays to be in a department with a bunch of people who just can't sit still for that long. I'm still feeling out the territory as far as balancing reading and homework with other activities, but I think it should be okay as long as I stay on top of everything.

One last thing, completely unrelated to any of the above. I know there are some of you out there who are Matt Maher fans. Aside from earning uber-cool points for using the word "transubstantiation" in a song, he just put out his first album under a major Christian label called "Empty and Beautiful". It's currently the top selling CD on Family Christian Stores website, so let's get the word out and support! He has also released a slightly revamped version of "Your Grace is Enough" to radio, so be sure and request. Alright, enough of my random plugs...I'm going to go get my trivia on tonight, as I wait in anticipation for The Office to return tomorrow. Take it easy!