Social Work, Thomas Sowell and Christ-Centered Phenomenology...But First...

I provided a segue from my last post to this one, saying I was going to share how I became connected with my new hero, Dr. Thomas Sowell - but first - a moment to acknowledge the "March For Our Lives" that is being held today in Washington DC.

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Okay.  Some thoughts.

It is unfathomably sad, grievous and an abomination that schoolchildren are gunned down at school.  I know how it feels to have guns pulled on me in a public place.  In 1988, I worked as a bank teller in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was present at 2 armed bank robberies during the 1 year I worked there.  On both occasions, 2 men suddenly burst through the bank doorway and told us all to lie down on the ground while they took the money in our teller drawers.  Guns were wielded and waved around but no shots were fired.  The day after the first robbery,  I phoned my mother crying on the way to work and could only make it through a half-day once I got there.  One of the other bank tellers never made it back to that branch because of the traumatic after-effects she suffered.

The survivors of school shootings or any event like that are never the same.  Other similar happenings from the past include the post-office shooting that coined the term "going postal"; the McDonald's and Luby's buffet shootings; and the grocery store shootings that occurred in the 80's (Note:  Please forgive that I am not giving stats and links to these events and feel free to clarify in comments section if you wish - I just don't have the time in my life at this point to include all of the data and get any blogging accomplished! Please utilize internet searches ;) ).  Anyway...

What I am saying is that the pain is REAL and we were not meant as human beings to suffer trauma.  My heart goes out to the response of human beings who want to DO something substantial about this problem that, because of our constant access to media, is brought to our knowledge.  Every person who hears of the bad news of a terror attack, a shooting of unsuspecting innocent people, and other horrors the news brings to our awareness is traumatized by the hearing of that news and the knowledge it brings.

The pain experienced by us humans of carrying knowledge the ever-present media provides to us (whether we want it or not)  provokes in us a TRUE human response.  It  says loud and clear, from a deep primal place of knowing, "NO!  THIS SHOULD NOT BE!  WE MUST STOP THIS!"  I too have this response of "NO!!!"

What adds to the pain between us humans is the resulting FIGHT BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS emanating from the emotional response.  This is WRONG.  This ADDS to the pain.  It does not solve it, alleviate it, soothe it;  in fact it MAKES IT WORSE because people become DIVIDED.  People become divided who AGREE about the KEY PROBLEM which, in this case is, KIDS (AND ANYONE ELSE) SHOULD NOT BE GETTING KILLED BY GUNS IN SCHOOLS.

So now there is a March For Our Lives today, but it is ALIENATING a whole group of PEOPLE who AGREE about the SAME KEY PROBLEM.  For instance, the NRA is being demonized.  Instead of dialoguing with the NRA - (some are, but we are not hearing about these dialogues in the mainstream media - only in conservative outlets) - the entire NRA as a group is demonized.  President Trump is demonized and blamed.  Conservatives are demonized and blamed.  Conservatives who also do not want people getting killed in shootings are blamed.  But these things cannot be talked about because PEOPLE are not able to REGULATE THEIR EMOTIONS and talk with one another, BELIEVING THE BEST FOR EACH OTHER.

Without the ability to regulate emotions, NO ONE CAN TALK about the problems in our society and NO ONE CAN BEGIN to solve them.  All that can be done is FIGHT.

THERE HAS GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY.

Well - I apologize, but I do not have time to talk about the first parts of the title of this entry today - I must get to work on my STATISTICS and other PhD ASSIGNMENTS.

I will save Social Work, Thomas Sowell and Christ Phenomenology for the next post - which I will not promise to do tomorrow - but will try.

John 16:33 - Jesus said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation: but take courage; I have overcome the world."
(New American Standard Bible)

Christian Ministry and Social Work

As a Christian, I rely on the leading of the Lord to guide my focus, thoughts and forward movement in life. This reliance has never steered me wrong in 35 years after consciously making the decision to follow Jesus, and now it is true more than ever as I embark on the journey of becoming a Christian scholar.

At age 52 as of this day (3/21/2018), Social Work scholarship is a second career, the first being a professional classical vocalist and church musician. Perhaps I should say Social Work is a “third career”, as carrying and birthing my four children, two sets of boy-girl twins, and focusing upon their nurture and development during their preschool years was a career for certain that I thoroughly enjoyed and will never regret focusing my life upon! As a wise social work supervisor said to me just before I left my job in 2003 to fully focus on my first pregnancy at home: “Work will always be there for you to return to later.” I was 37 years old. A late bloomer in many ways!

At age 50, I returned to work. I joined my husband of 30 years (a gifted Anglican priest, teacher and pastor ordained in 1994), in beginning to hold church services in our home in May of 2015 following an unexpected change in his employment. This change, while difficult to navigate at the time, ultimately freed us up to think outside of the box for our financial and vocational futures. The church, All Souls Anglican, (under the Nigerian Diocese of CANA East and Bishop Julian Dobbs) is soon entering its 4th year of weekly Sunday worship with a small core of committed members who actively live out their Christian faith in authenticity and community with us. All Souls’ primary focus is to reach out to the hurting and needy in our community – that often includes each other, but also anyone who would like to come and “hang out”, share a meal, and in some cases, require temporary lodging and spiritual care to assess their next step. Pastoral Care and Social Work, it turns out, are two very compatible professions.

I was surfing Wikipedia earlier today as I was looking for information about a new Episcopal priest being installed in our community, a female. It got me thinking about the subject of women's ordination in the Episcopal church and I thought I would look up information about the famous Philadelphia Eleven, the 11 female deacons that were ordained by rogue bishops in 1974. Wikipedia detailed each of the 11 and gave a biography of each - several had, in addition to seeking Holy Orders, also obtained their Master of Social Work degree (MSW). I thought this was interesting and not surprising! I would like to study further the connection between religion/spirituality and the "call" to the profession of Social Work.

When I began my own journey towards my MSW degree,  I did so fairly blindly.  I mean, did I even know what a social worker was?  An influential woman in my life who was my counselor was a clinical social worker.  I shared with her my desire to be a counselor to others and she encouraged me to get my MSW.  Almost immediately as I began the coursework, I saw that, although one's spiritual life was not a centerpiece of social work education per se, the connection for me was obvious.  I saw that social work was actually "ministry" as I understood it.  While being a political conservative put me in a minority camp as far as the social work profession is concerned, the common ground I share with my profession is care and concern for all people, all of the human race.

I am reading “Race and Culture” by Dr. Thomas Sowell. Although he has been well-known in the conservative community for decades, I have only recently, in the last week actually, discovered him. He is my new hero, as I have been searching for the way to articulate my reactions and concern over what I hear from the Social Work community regarding racism.   The providential manner in which I came in contact with his writings will be the subject for my next blog post.

It's almost time!

Setting goals is so life-giving to me. When it turned Y2K, I wanted to do something significant- so I took on a task for a new challenge: I started a community musical theater. It was great fun to produce, direct and be a cast memberb myself in the musicals we performed in 2000 and 2001. Then, I went on to the next mountain to climb: Getting my master's degree in 2002. Long-awaited children arrived in the form of twins in 2004 and a second set just as 2006 was coming to a close. Now it is the eve of my 45th birthday, and my next big happening is a marathon, 26.2 miles I have been planning to run since I was 43 and a half. In a week and a half, I will be running the Disney Marathon- and I actually think I am ready!

Marathon pre-training continues...

About to enter my 4th week of pre-training - on Monday this week I ran 3 miles non-stop and walked a mile. It felt great except for this issue in my right foot that I have had for sometime. I think it is a neuroma (from my highly reliable internet search - ! - ?) - feels like a pebble or marble in the ball of my foot, high up between the base of my 3rd & 4th toes (I think - hard to pinpoint) - at any rate, I start to get numbness and downright pain after a couple of miles of running. So - tomorrow morning I finally have a foot doctor appointment and I will, hopefully, find out what it actually is!

Meanwhile - it is getting pretty steamy in the mornings around here! Today, because of extenuating circumstances I did not get out this am, so running will have to happen later. My plan is to continue running 30 minutes straight this week, then add 5 minutes each week until I get up to 45 minutes. Then, I will run 45 minutes 3 times a week and 1 hour once a week until the REAL training starts in October.

Yes - I am hoping to drop some more pounds during this process! But - I am just going to keep with my eating routine which is most days being a "weight watcher" with one "celebration" (eat whatever I want) evening a week. I have been maintaining my 20 pound loss from last Fall since November, but in reality would like to drop about 10 more. I have heard that marathon training is not necessarily a weight-loss season, so I will try not to obsess over that! Just want to enjoy life, which means, for me, enjoying delicious food!

Marathon training - the beginning

My book arrived last week - Finally! It is a program written by Joe Henderson, a seasoned marathon-er and writer of training programs. This one gets you ready in 100 days. For my level - "Cruiser" (which is not worried about time, just finishing), I need to be able to complete a 10K and run for an hour non-stop by the time I begin my 100 days. The 100 days begins October 2 for my January 9, 2011 Disney World marathon. In the meantime, I have now begun my 2nd week of what I call "pre-marathon training"!

Last Thursday, May 27, I began a week (4 days - Thurs, Sat, Mon & Tues) of running 5 minutes/walking 5 minutes and did that 4 times. Yesterday, June 3, I began running 10 minutes/walking 5 minutes 3 times. It felt great! I have quickly learned that I need to get to running before about 8:30 AM or it gets too hot quickly! Today is Friday and it is a rest day - Yay! So my plan is to run tomorrow (Sat), Sun or Mon (haven't decided which yet) and then Tues. I will build up from there when Thursday rolls around again, probably try 2 20-minute runs with walk breaks.

I am looking for a 10K to do around August/September - will perhaps do a 5K I did last year in July again.

More later!

Countdown to Marathon

Well, in a flurry and a rush I signed up for the Disney Marathon (January 2011) last week. I was afraid that I would miss my chance if I didn't do it now and besides, my rear needs to get in gear! I was up to about 4 miles 3 or 4 times a week by last November, but have not been running since. As soon as i signed up, I caught a chest cold! So I have walked 2 days so far - Sunday morning and today (Thursday). That ain't gonna cut it for long! Saturday I will be visiting my sister in Baltimore and we will likely go running. I think I will be better then and get my official training off to a start.

This is my goal for turning 45 on December 30, 2010 - to run my first marathon, the Disney World one at that. Can you think of a more fun place to run? I am psyched! And now I have my new Asics shoes bought on sale at Kohl's last week. Woo hoo, here I go!

Marathon Woman

Okay - I am going for it.

I have two friends I'm thinking of who have become marathon-ers since I have first met them - both moms who turned to the marathon to be their next challenge. I am continually inspired by them and get the privilege of following their progress via Facebook.

A life-long-struggler-with-weight, I have come to the conclusion that exercise is my only hope for peace and balance. I have had two major weight-losses in my life: Jenny Craig & Weight Watchers. The weight gain happened gradually over 10 years after my Jenny Craig stint - and 2 twin pregnancies happened after the Weight Watchers' success. I am now at my weight before the 2nd twin pregnancy in 2006, which is 20+ pounds up from the 1st one in 2003.

I have, at the age of 43, flirted with accepting myself at this new weight - after all, I read once that Kathleen Turner, that 80's sex symbol, commented that after a certain point a woman has to choose between her face and her rear-end. Hmmm; I could live with having a more full, youthful face and a little more booty - after all, "Baby Got Back", right? But, try as I might, I can't shake the memory of how great it felt to be a little bit farther down the scale. And those few times always came after a season of disciplined exercise.

Besides, I am so tired of watching what I eat. I have read "French Women Don't Get Fat", "The Weigh-Down Workshop", "Stop The Madness", and any other number of books on the subject. There are great concepts in them all. This time, I am going with my gut.

I am going to eat what I like, within reason, and stop counting calories and points. And, beginning last week, I am going to slowly work up to the Disney Marathon (one of my favorite places on Earth) and, for my 45th birthday in December of 2010, I am going to run it. If I like the experience, I am going to work towards the New York City marathon, because (cue the music): "I ---- love New York!!!!" And then, maybe I will try the marathon in Hawaii since I have always wanted to go there, too. I REFUSE to spend my young children's lives being unfit and unhappy - plus, I want to set an example for them to be athletic and fit all their lives long.

So - Cheryl and Libby - thanks for inspiring me. Keep it up and pull for me as I walk and run out this dream! I know you've been there and are cheering me on already.