More Questions Than Answers

Yesterday's post might have been sub-titled, "What I don't know about Columbia's Interfaith Centers could fill a book." As such it drew the most responses of any post I have written to date. It is good to know that folks will step in with information--I know so much more today than yesterday!

I wonder if Columbia would ever do an Interfaith Center "Crawl" along the lines of a Pub Crawl? Would anyone be interested besides me? Pub Crawls are usually done on foot, I believe. But what if this were an event more like a progressive dinner, with stops along the way? It could be like the Columbia Home Tour--participants drive themselves from one place to the next. Or it could use Columbia Association vans along with knowledgeable tour guides from the Columbia Archives.

And again, here is something I don't know: has the Columbia Archives ever done an exhibit on the Interfaith Centers? I am always fascinated by the vintage/historical photographs, advertisements and written material that Barbara Kellner and her staff put together to enlighten today's residents about Columbia's past.

As a middle schooler, I participated in a program at our Unitarian Church in Stamford, Connecticut called "The Church Around the Corner." We learned about other faiths and visited worship services in our community. This is the sort of thing that Unitarians do extremely well. But It doesn't need to be limited to Unitarians. I think there's a lot to learn from a visit to Columbia's unique houses of worship.

In order for such an event to work, one would need to find a target audience and a motivator for participation. Would it be a fundraiser for a charity? Would funds raised go towards supporting Interfaith Center renewal? What interesting mysteries might be revealed along the way that would entice normally uninvolved residents to take a peek?

I recently read of some friends taking part in an urban scavenger hunt in Baltimore. Perhaps this event has the makings of a game--Interfaith Center Quest!

My usual desire is to turn everything into a party. With bouncy castles. Maybe I can take this one on as a matter for independent study, and report back to you. But if anyone's up for an IC Road Trip--I'm in!

hocoblogs@@@

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word. Days passed. They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts. Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public. So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that. But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog