I was so intrigued Monday as we conceived our definitions of social justice and spiritual practices, and were challlenged to think of spiritual disciplines as integrally linked to social justice. That was an epiphany to me that was energizing. What a new dimension to my spiritual practices it would be to use prayer, worship, devotional time, meditation, etc. to intentionally seek God's calls to action to support social justice. Suddenly spiritual practice gained new relevance and focus!
Today, it took the form of more than 900 meatballs. Yesterday, we were reminded to seek God in the simple things of life... the mundane task, the vital repetitive motions of serving others. One thing we discussed was that the poor will always be with us, but we can contribute one brick to the wall of resistance against poverty.
Today, for me, that brick was to help feed 326 people who needed to eat lunch. The mundane task was counting exactly three meatballs per serving and to try not to slosh spaghetti sauce on the dessert in the next compartment on the tray. I expressed to my fellow pilgrims on day 1 an important personal goal for this pilgrimage: to see each person as a child of God, and to become more familiar with men and women experiencing homelessness by exposure to them. Today, I got my wish......
There is endless potential to do more. And 900 and some odd meatballs were the best educational tool possible for me today. There is a world hungry for much, much more work toward social justice and spiritual practices can put "fire in the belly" to put my brick in the wall of human kindness.
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The Urban Pilgrimage, a program of the Young Adult Network of EPF, has successfully trained young people, mainly college students, in reshaping their lives to follow the path of justice for the past 8 years.The Urban Pilgrimage is a week long pilgrimage designed to create leadership in college students & young adults focusing on social justice as a spiritual practice.