Posted by Helen on: 11.04.2006 /
In comment #14 on her online interview, Meg writes:
Hi bloggers! i’m at off the map’s revolution! rachel is sitting just in front of me! i’ve met mike o and helen and peter and it is very excellent to realise that these people we’re blogging with are real!! it’s been excellent being in a place where the range of acceptable answers is broader than any gathering of this many people i’ve ever been in! for me, these days have been comforting, helaing, inspiring, and brought hope for me to somehow MTWABP when previously, after working in the third world, and in other contexts i’ve been confronted with the deep sadness of life, i had only experienced despair.
Comment by: Helen
1 11/4/06 5:17 PM | Comment Link |Meg I’m glad it’s meant so much to you. I also loved meeting the people I’d met online face to face!
I was really touched by the support you and other bloggers showed me - thank you!!! People were so kind and friendly and fun.
I’ll write more soon - I’m too tired to think right now. I only got 3 hours sleep last night because I stayed up late socializing then had to get up early for my 6 a.m. flight. (The concert my children were in, which was why I came back early, went great)
Comment by: benamin ady
2 11/5/06 12:18 AM | Comment Link |Megs–you rock! I also had an amazing time at the conference. I’m a bit stymied, however. I went away thinking “All right, I’m going to be *kind* and pursue justice!” And right away, I was enormously unkind to someone. “*@*!&”. And my unkindness grew out of my fury at this person for their perpetration of injustice. “Self, now here’s a fine dilemma”, I said to myself. I seem to face this dilemma everywhere–this very human dilemma of always running smack into unfathomable paradoxes, and being somehow required to engage them. Dwight Friesen talked about how maybe being Christian means finding those places where we are doing/thinking the us/v/them thing, and choosing to *be* the “and” to replace the “v” in that equation. Kind of choosing to lean into those relationship where that happens, rather than leaning away from them. but god*@^*>!, I hate the way I behave in those relationships, and that’s *why* I lean away from them. so frustrating…thanks for listening!
Comment by: Helen
3 11/5/06 5:08 AM | Comment Link |Benjamin (do you prefer to be called Ben or Benjamin, btw?) I love that you had a wonderful time and that you want to be different because of what you heard.
I reposted your comment because I think you raised a very important issue i.e. how do we effectively change our behavior?
What produces real behavior change?
Comment by: benamin ady
4 11/5/06 10:08 AM | Comment Link |Helen–thankyou for asking. I prefer Benjamin, which tranlates “Son my right hand”, or more loosely “My totally gnarley, rocking, excellent, favorite son”, as opposed to Ben, which translates “son”. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood, I introduce myself as Benoni, which tranlates “Son of my sorrows”.
Comment by: Helen
5 11/5/06 10:25 AM | Comment Link |Thanks Benjamin. Actually I know what Benjamin means because it’s my son’s name! (I’m not sure whether I’d told you that)
It was kind of Jacob to change Ben-oni to Benjamin, don’t you think? I was glad he did that so his son didn’t grow up with such a sad name.
Comment by: benamin ady
6 11/5/06 1:42 PM | Comment Link |Very kind of him. I hadn’t thought of that before. I hope your son realizes he’s part of a very excellent club, having the name Benjamin
Comment by: Helen
7 11/6/06 5:55 AM | Comment Link |*Helen makes note to self about making sure her son knows he’s part of an excellent club ;-)
Comment by: Rachel
8 11/6/06 5:19 PM | Comment Link |I told Meg & Ben that I would post the text of a letter my daughter sent to President Bush.
Hi, guys! Here’s the letter, including the spelling…
Dear President Bush,
Why are you spending so much on wars?! It won’t acomplish anything exept make people die. Martin Luther King said to make peace! Are you just going to ignore that?! Stop spending billions of dollars to kill people, and spend it to help them! You are just ignoring the cries for help! Spend those billions of dollars on sending people out to Africa! If your salary was 25 cents a day, and you heard about someday with billions of dollars, who was wasting it on wars, you would want them to help you, right? Well, the Bible says “Do unto others, as you would have the do unto you.” I guess you wouldn’t want someone to help you. That’s what you are showing the world. A President is supposed to be a good role model, but you’re just teaching America to kill people, instead of help them. I think you’re making a mistake. The Live 8 concert a while back had singers who snapped thier fingers every three seconds. You know what that represents? The child in Africa that dies every three seconds. You need to do something about this. Write Back.
From, Anna Stanton Age 10
Comment by: Mike O
9 11/6/06 8:18 PM | Comment Link |BenJAMIN - One of the hilights of the conference was your laugh!
Meg - Another hilight was you running up on stage to find Alice. How many people in a crowd of 600 would be daring (and FUN!) enough to run up on stage like that?!?
Rachel - You fierly little spark plug, you! That conversation at dinner was awesome, what we call in the evangelical world “rhobust dialogue!” And you really did make me think, even though my scandinavian stubbornness makes it look like I’m just blowing you off.
Comment by: Eliza
10 11/6/06 10:28 PM | Comment Link |Rachel - what a great letter Anna wrote! She sounds like a fiery spark plug - does she get it from her mom? ;-)
Anna - great letter! You tell him, girl! Will you please let us know if he writes back, & what he says?
Comment by: Anna
11 11/7/06 7:58 AM | Comment Link |He sent back little trading cards of himself and Laura Bush, and a little card saying “Thank you for writing. I
always enjoy hearing from young Americans who share their thoughts and ideas. I appreciate your friendship and support. George Bush.”
WHAT?! You call what I wrote FRIENDSHIP!? And SUPPORT?! YOU ENJOYED THAT LETTER!? You’re insane.
Obviously that is what they send kids who write, not thinking that they might be more intellegent to write something other than “Hi Mr. President! We love what you’re doing!”
Comment by: Helen
12 11/7/06 8:20 AM | Comment Link |Anna, I can tell he read your letter carefully and put a lot of thought into his response.
NOT!!!
If it’s any consolation, you probably would have got the same response if you were an adult. I don’t think it was your age which caused you to get some form reply - they probably send that to everyone (unfortunately).
Comment by: Mike O
13 11/7/06 10:04 AM | Comment Link |Anna, tell HIM that and see if anything happens. You might actually get a real response if you show him you’re not just some kid.
Don’t get your hopes too high, he probably get’s hundreds of letters a day. But who knows, right?
Comment by: Meg
14 11/7/06 3:31 PM | Comment Link |Anna - your letter is SO amazing! It really says the most important thing, that LIFE is what’s worth creating, instead of death! You have a gift of seeing what needs saying Anna! I loved meeting your excellent Mum at Revolution Conference, and am wearing the fantastic choker she very kindly gave me, the proceeds going to help protect and empower vulnerable women. Anna, maybe you could have a career in politics or advocacy!! You go girl!
Mike O - THANK YOU for your encouraging comment! After running up on stage, i felt, as my 4 year old Eowyn would say, like a silly goose! So it was really heartening to read your words! And so very lovely to meet you, Rachel and Helen!
Eliza - Bens and I are looking forward with delight to meeting you next week! Yay!
Helen - Hi!
Rachel - Hi!
Everybody at CatE - Hi! (Don’t want you to feel too left out having not been at the conference! You’re great!)
Comment by: Rachel
15 11/7/06 9:53 PM | Comment Link |And wonderful Meg gave me a special shirt from Australia as a gift… yes Mike O, it was another bleeding heart anti-poverty activist shirt. ;-)
Comment by: Benjamin Ady
16 11/8/06 1:26 AM | Comment Link |hear hear for bleeding heart anti poverty activists! ( I wish I could believe that that the democrats winning the house means anything for the things I care about)(I guess I’m just a big cynic)
Thankyou all for your kind words! You people rock!
Comment by: Helen
17 11/8/06 4:27 AM | Comment Link |Meg - I’m so glad you and Benjamin have arranged to meet Eliza next week! I hope you all have a wonderful time with each other.
Comment by: meg
18 11/12/06 1:18 AM | Comment Link |Here’s to the bleeding hearted anti-poverty activists of the world!! Of which Rachel, Anna, Bens and I are just a few. Hey, a question to all you other BHAPAs … I get really frustrated about how helpless I feel to make any significant difference in the world. Often, when I’m involved in social action, I feel it’s more for my own sake than that of those I’m there to help. Do you all relate, and how can I remedy this and really make a difference? (Comments welcome from non-BHAPAs too, of course!!)
Comment by: Rachel
19 11/12/06 8:40 AM | Comment Link |Helen, can we repost Meg’s question as a new topic?
Comment by: Helen
20 11/12/06 9:06 AM | Comment Link |Great idea, Rachel - I’ll post it tomorrow.