The Compass Center

by Lauren Reed

I’ve had a couple of great things going for me this January. The first was that I went on a 2-week trip to sunny Eastern Cuba for the second time to dance and do thesis research. The second is that I began a class that I created for myself (Butler will let you do almost anything if you ask nicely) about mantra. For the class, I’m chanting “gate gate paragate parasamgate bodi swaha” (gone gone, gone beyond, beyond the gone-beyond, so be it) for about 4 hours a week and then journaling about it. I think the best way to tell you about these experiences is to share my first journal entry that I wrote while I was still in Cuba:

I was planning on waiting, but I guess that it’s fitting that I’m starting to read The Way of the Pilgrim (a book I’m reading for my class about a man who chants) while I’m traveling in Cuba. I realized this while reading the foreword of the book. The write quotes Gabriel Marcel on his idea that order will be established on earth when each person understands that he or she is only a figurative traveler here. I’m a literal traveler right now so here is what that means to me in this moment:
1.) I’m living out of a suitcase and I don’t want to unpack everything because I know I’ll have to move again soon. I think the pilgrim’s physical body is his “suitcase” here on earth. It sounds like he barely takes care of his body. He hardly ever eats, he walks and sleeps outside in the snow with tattered old shoes, he doesn’t want a home. But the things inside his “suitcase,” his soul and connection with God, he takes care of those very well.
2.) I have to roll with the punches. I’m going to be disappointed if I expect a consistent schedule or to know what’s going to happen two days from now or to be in a car with adequate safety features. I’m living day to day. For a change.
3. I need to be ready to part with my belongings. If my Cuban friend needs my chapstick because it’s expensive in Cuba, I give her mine and make due without chapstick for the rest of the trip. It’s weird how attached we get to little things like headphones and pens and chapstick when they’re so easy to get in the U.S. But for that reason, it makes more sense to give those things to people that don’t have them.
4.) I’m careful to not waste. I haven’t thrown away or left a single mini bar of soap or roll of toilet paper in any of our hotel rooms because those things are also hard for Cuban people to get. And I know that when I get back to the U.S., I’ll have a hard time throwing away napkins or dumping out cups of water. It makes me upset to think of how much water it takes for a shower. I’ve been showering with a gallon and a half of water in a bucket for the past week and I’m doing just fine. It makes me even more upset to think that in a couple weeks, I’ll probably be back into my old wasteful habits…
I’m grateful to have a traveling experience as I read The Pilgrim; it gives me some perspective. As I read, I’m picking out phrases that jump out at me. For example, the pilgrim discusses wanting an experience in constant prayer (chanting mantra) rather than a mental study of it. And, hey, that’s what I’m doing right now with this mantra class. I’m learning about mantra by DOING rather than just by reading about it.
I tried my mantra for the first time today. I chanted for 20 minutes while I held ice on my knees. Hours of dancing on cobblestone is awful for your body. I started chanting in my normal speaking tone and after only a few minutes, my throat started to hurt. It felt like my vocal chords were straining from speaking in a low voice even though it wasn’t all that low. Around minute 10, I realized that my volume had been getting softer and softer. I decided to observe this rather than to try to change it. See? Rolling with the punches. My voice kept getting softer until finally, I “broke” into a whisper. I say “broke” because the change in effort to continue in a whisper felt so immediately relaxing that it was like releasing something I’d been holding too tightly. It was so freeing. The last 5 minutes went by smoothly, and I was surprised when my alarm went off to tell me that my time was up.

The way I think about Cuba and my practice keeps changing as I settle back in to America and dive into mantra. It already feels like a month since I’ve been home and the vividness of Cuba’s atmosphere and warm weather is being replaced by the reality of this awful winter. Still, I’m glad to be chanting at home and I’m so lucky that I was able to begin my mantra journey as a traveler.

Peace,
Lauren

by Lauren Reed

At the end of a semester, I’m always ready to run back to my apartment and sleep off my finals. After a few days, though, I snap out of it and finish tying-up loose ends of the year. One of those “ends” is to reflect on my internship with the Center for Faith and Vocation. My internship, as the CFV’s Interfaith Liaison, let me interact with all the faith groups on campus, connecting them to each other and the CFV. I attended events, blogged about them, and sent lots of emails to support the groups. Judy asked me to reflect on how my work has related to my own life. This threw me a little. When writing for the CFV, I feel guilty deviating from what I see as “the important parts” of this internship so my instinct is to be academic and leave my personal life out of it. But when I think about the Center, its crew, and what they stand for, I realize that it’s silly of me to think that way. The CFV is one of the most individualized places I’ve ever been. The purpose of the House is to see each person as an individual with unique problems, situations, and needs. And the people who work there are good at it, which is why I’m about to reflect upon this internship and my personal life. Well done, Judy. Here I go.

In the dance world, we often talk about making ourselves into “well rounded dancers.” There’s a misconception (especially among younger dancers) that you should focus all your energy one style of dance to be the best. Ie, if you want to be a ballerina, it doesn’t do you any good to study ballroom dance, you should spend that time practicing ballet instead. I’m not saying that this is the way most dancers (especially those at Butler) think, but for some dancers, it is. For a dancer to limit himself or herself by only studying one style is silly because, one, there are very few companies that do exclusively one style and, two, you get a much richer experiencing by learning a little of everything. The same thing can be said about having more than one passion. A dance major’s academic schedule is packed and doesn’t usually allow for other activities so we often get stuck in a cycle of dance class, homework, and sleep. This internship has helped me set aside time to find meaning outside of dance because I get to work with people and learn about religions- two things I love. Don’t get me wrong. Dance is my calling. But there are days (as there are in any profession) that make me want to get out of the dance studio and having something else to turn to keeps me grounded. While it makes my schedule busy at times, this internship helps make me a “well rounded person.” When I’m able to invest in something that really calls to me, it gives me meaning outside the dance world. I’ve found that this semester at the CFV.

Maybe this is because of my structured background in dance, but I had a hard time adjusting to this type of work. I’m used to work that involves punching in and sitting at a desk for a prescribed amount of time, producing some tangible results. At my other jobs, numbers matter. X attendees to an event is a success, anything less than Y means I did something wrong. Every time that I bring up my nervousness about numbers, the gracious Judy has tried to get me to shift my thinking. My role, Judy says, is to extend an interfaith invitation to everyone and if no one responds, no problem; I’ll just ask again the next week. To be honest, this is the kind of work environment I would choose if I had my pick of them all. I suppose I’m just surprised I landed such a perfect gig. Go Blue House! I’m so lucky to have been able to do the good work of the CFV. I’m really looking forward to next semester when I’ll get to come back and learn more about our campus faith groups.

by Hannah Riffe

I traveled home to Cincinnati this past weekend in hopes of getting to vote for the 2012 presidential election in early. I had procrastinated on getting my absentee ballot and had an urge to get off campus anyway so I figured I would vote in person. As I made it to downtown I was surprised to see that most of the city was dead, barely a person in sight, and on a Saturday afternoon this was uncommon. But as soon as I turned my car towards the Elections Board building I knew why the rest of the city was quiet. It seemed as though everybody in the downtown area had converged to the two-block radius surrounding the only early polling site. I parked and sat in my car just looking at the barely moving line and tried to convince myself that it wasn’t worth the wait. But I concluded that I had already driven two hours from Indianapolis, so what would another half hour be?

Three hours later when I finally dropped my freshly marked ballot into its box and received my “I Voted!” sticker I had never felt more accomplished. I stood alone in line for three hours shivering in 40-degree weather as the sky kept spitting out rain. Being a 21-year-old young white female alone in a predominantly African-American crowd I was uncomfortable. Not scared, not suspicious, just uncomfortable. Those handing out political propaganda and the politicians continuously ignored me because they either didn’t care about my vote or decided in their mind that I was going to vote a certain way. But I did it. I voted. Don’t get me wrong, every 20 minutes or so I decided I was just going to get out of line and go back to the car with heated seats and drive to the closest Starbucks for a grande hot chocolate. But I didn’t. And I want to say it was all because of my own will power and convictions but really it was peer pressure. I was surrounded by so many people who were so excited and so willing to wait even more than three hours to vote for somebody they truly believed in. I was not only inspired by their dedication but also slightly ashamed of my indifference. But that indifference slowly faded away as I was able to think (three hours is a long time) about why I was voting.

In a phone conversation with my dad a few days before I admitted that I felt that my vote wouldn’t even matter. He immediately said, “Do you know where you come from? Cincinnati is one of the most democratic cities situated in one of the most republican counties, in one of the biggest battleground states. Your vote may change the whole election!” Well, when he put it that way how could I not vote? But I was still conflicted on who to vote for. I knew that my personal beliefs aligned strongly with one candidate but my parents’ aligned with the other. In those three long hours I struggled on what my ballot would say. Most of the people in line with me were open and proud Obama supporters, so what would one vote for Romney really do? But on the other hand many of my core beliefs matched Obama’s stance on social issues. Do I vote for a candidate who could help my family and our economy or do I vote for a candidate I think will push our country into progress with social issues?

In the end all that matters is that I voted. I voted for the first time in a presidential election. I voted as a way to fulfill my civic duty as a US citizen. I voted for the women who came before me and sacrificed all they were for my rights. I voted for myself, for my beliefs, and for my future.

by Lauren Reed

The Blue House asked me to reflect on my internship and what I’m learning. I’m about due for some reflection. I usually put my head down and go go go until the end of the semester, waiting to reflect until I’m at home on my couch eating Christmas cookies. But reflection is important (hey, that’s the first thing I’ve learned) so here’s what I’m thinking about my internship and life as of 8:25 this morning:

1. College is for growing, not learning. Sure, I’m learning things in my classes and that’s important. Let’s be real, though; I won’t remember a lot of the details a few years from now. What matters (to me, at least) is that I can take personal meaning from what I’m learning. That’s why my religion minor and this internship feel so right to me. I understand how to take themes I’m learning and apply those to my understanding of myself. I have a dance teacher who always says that dance class is about “collecting sensations” rather than copying movement. With enough practice, anyone can move the same way the teacher does, but understanding how the movement feels and where it’s coming from and what it means to YOU is a different story. In college, anyone can learn facts; it’s tougher to know how to grow from them.

2. Numbers don’t count. Working in ResLife has gotten me used to numbers. I should have at least 5 people at each program I host. I can use x% of my budget for this event. It’s a pragmatic and effective way to do things and it’s what I knew, so I brought it with me to this internship. I’m still getting used to the way the Blue House functions because it’s all about the presence on campus rather than the number of people who come through the house. What matters most is that we are available. It’s ok if I don’t reach everyone, but I’ll really invest in the people I do connect with. It’s so liberating to have permission to focus on a few people rather than to desperately try to engage everyone.

3. Talking with people is the best way to serve. As people, we all need lots of things, right? We need food and money and friends and an education (preferably in something sustainable). It is so easy to want to provide these things, especially to those who are close to us. As a CFV intern, I want to give each of Butler’s faith groups funding, students, and publicity. And lots of it. Almost 3 months in, I’m starting to realize that I haven’t been exactly realistic. I can’t give each group everything I’d like to but I’ve had some fantastic conversations with student leaders that were more meaningful than a strategic blog post or financial donation. We need a lot of things, but one thing that we tend to overlook is the need to be listened to. I’m glad that I’ve been able to provide that in lieu of giant money bags.

So that’s where I’m at. I’m so, so grateful for this opportunity to learn and share.
Peace,
Lauren

By Hannah Riffe

Being the communications intern for the Center for Faith and Vocation I find myself, well, communicating, a lot. I email, Facebook, greet, tweet, chat, listen, and laugh. You’ll usually find me on my computer or my phone corresponding with student organizations, Butler faculty, students, community members, and other CFV staff. And I love it. I love being able to create a connection between the larger Butler community and the CFV. If I am even able to get one student to the CFV who has never been there I feel accomplished because I was once that student. As a freshman I didn’t really understand what the CFV really was or what it had to offer. And never trying to find out is probably one of the biggest regrets. The CFV has become a place for me to come and work, relax, meet, study, have fun, and most of all make connections. Not just professional connections but personal, spiritual, and enlightening bonds. I’ve meet people who have helped me see that what I do with my future is up to me and the possibilities are endless. Besides getting great professional experience I’ve gained a better understanding of what I can do with those experiences to further myself. I truly believe that from working at the CFV I gained confidence in my ability to go after my goals which I will be doing this spring by studying abroad in London for 5 months. Being able to talk out my hesitations and fears with the CFV staff I was able to see that I can overcome any challenges. Be it planning an event such as Big Questions or planning for my future on a different continent. The CFV has not only been an employer but also a friend, mentor, and inspiration.

by Moira Frazier

A dancer at the Hindu Temple Fest; this is a great example of the beautiful costumes!
This past Saturday I was able to attend Temple Fest, at the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana. I did not real-ize that the Hindu community in Indianapolis was so large; there are almost 10,000 Hindus around here! It was an exciting experience, and the closest to another culture I have been able to get without traveling. It also included lots of Hindu dancing, which was a wonderful thing to experience.
The atmosphere of Temple Fest was somewhat like walking into India for a brief bit; there were multitudes of people gathered in a tent, milling around different attractions, and I was definitely in the minority as a non-Indian person. This was a very interesting experience, since it happens so rarely in this country as a Caucasian person. The environment of the festival was wonderful; the energy was high and the feel was festive. Everybody was gathering around food tables, the stage where the dancing was, or chatting in smaller groups. There were people of all ages enjoying the festivities, from tiny babies in colorful, elabo-rate Indian costumes to older people. It was a lovely event to be a part of.
The food and culture was amazing. I partook in eating some Indian food; although the food was unfamiliar and quite spicy, it was delicious, and very eye opening to experience cuisine that was different even from the more American versions of Indian food we usually get in this country. I was also able to experience walking around inside the actual temple, which is still a work in progress but already very large and beauti-ful. It was amazing to be integrated so fully into another culture and religion for the day.
The highlight for me, of course, was the dancing I was able to watch. There were several different groups of classical Hindu dancers, of all ages. Each group had intricate, colorful, and sparkling costumes, which really complimented the dances they performed. Most of the groups performed classical Hindu dance, which was completely different from other kinds of dance I have seen. It was intricate and involved several symbolic movements that showed the religious influence. There was also a bit of Bollywood dancing, which is a sort of popular dance in India. It combines classical Hindu dance forms, belly dancing, Indian
folk dancing, and even Western styles of dance; it is very popular in movies from India. It is important to understand the distinction between the religiously influenced classical Hindu dance and the more secular form of Bollywood. It was nice to see examples of both within the same festival to illustrate this difference.
It was also great to see how friendly the Hindu people were. While I was eating, a nice gentleman started up a conversation. After explaining who I was and describing my project, he ended up introducing me to the Hindu dance teacher at the temple. This was exciting, and gaining such a wonderful contact was an unexpected bonus. It felt so personal, and it was wonderful to meet new and interesting people. I talked to the dance teacher, and she was extremely friendly and immediately enthusiastic about my project. I really hope she can be involved in one of my events!
Overall, attending Hindu Temple Fest was a wonderful experience that I would definitely recommend to others. Even if you are not Indian or Hindu, the community as a whole is so accepting, friendly, and excited to share their culture with others. It is amazing what wonderful events I discover when I look for them! Indianapolis has many vibrant cultures to explore, and Temple Fest was a way to experience the Hindu culture.
Below, I have included pictures of one of the groups of dancers I saw perform. Also, there is a link to the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana. Stay tuned for more information about my first dance and religion event!
http://www.htci.org/

Greetings!
My name is Moira Frazier, and I will be an intern at the Center for Interfaith Cooperation this year. I am a junior at Butler University, where I am a Religious Studies major and Dance minor. This blog will follow my path as I attempt to find the connections and parallels between religious customs and dance traditions. I plan on using the intersection of these two entities to promote an educational and ultimately ecumenical message about the many different religious traditions that are present in the Indianapolis area.
As part of this internship, I am attempting to organize a series of events that incorporate both dance and religious traditions. I would like for these events to include learning and discussion about how dance and movement are incorporated in different religious and ethnic cultures. This series of events will ideally include not only textual information, but also actually learning phrases of movement from specific tradi-tions. By getting people to learn the movement themselves, I am hoping to promote a greater personal understanding of how movement fits into religion.
Ideally, each event would focus on a different movement tradition. For example, one event may focus on Jewish/Israeli folk dance, while another would be dedicated to educating oneself about Hindu dance. Each event would include a hands-on approach to learning about each dance tradition. Ultimately, I would like to gather a following of people throughout the series, and culminate in one special event that incorporates all that we will have learned thus far about the role of movement in religious traditions.
Dance and religion, and the intersection and connection of the two, is a topic that is not discussed in great detail very often. There is little scholarly work on the subject, nor is there much common knowledge even within either dance communities or religious communities. However, my own experiences have led me to see that movement is an integral part of religious practice for many traditions. I want to use this blog, and this series of events, to promote knowledge about the interplay between two interesting subsets of human culture, and ultimately encourage a strong ecumenical and educational message.

by Lauren Reed 

Last Friday evening, I went to my first actual interfaith event of the semester.  “Continuing Lessons from 9/11” was hosted by Studio Ninety-Six along with Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church and our friends at the Christian Theological Seminary in downtown’s wonderfully unique Earth House Collective.  Studio Ninety-Six’s motto is “facilitating experimentation with artistically savvy, culturally sensitive, innovative worship” and I can’t think of a better way to describe the evening.

The service focused on remembering the sadness and fear of 9/11, but also on remembering the precious moments when the attack brought different faiths together instead of driving them apart.  The stories shared by three storytellers- a Jewish woman, a Muslim woman, and a Christian woman- encouraged us to reach past our own seclusion to grab our neighbors’ hands. 

One story was about a group of New York Christian women just after 9/11/01.  Some of their Muslim neighbors were so afraid of being targeted in the aftermath of the attacks that they were scared to go out alone in public.  In a beautiful act of humanity, the Christian women and Muslim women began going to the grocery store together in large groups to protect each other. 

This story and the service were wonderful examples of how people of different backgrounds can come together in peace to serve others.  The elated words the entire congregation sang as we left the building were perfect:

Let us go out and light up the dark!

Let us go out and bring joy to each heart!

Let us go out with indifference destroyed!

Let us go out with joy!

Amen.

Peace,

Lauren

 Check out Studio Ninety-Six’s website (http://worshipstudio.wordpress.com/about/)

by Lauren Reed 

This Friday, I went with my friend Morgan to an event hosted at the Blue House by Hillel.  Hillel is our very welcoming Jewish group on campus;  I’m always struck by the friendliness of this particular bunch.  This was my first time meeting the very funny Rabbi Spiegel who led the service and played a mean guitar.  I’ve also been told that he’s really into motorcycles.  I’ll have to ask him about that next time I see him.

The event was a Shabbat service, which falls on the 7th day of the Jewish week.  In Judaism, the 7th day of the week begins at sundown on Friday and leads into a day of rest.  We began by singing a nigun, which is a very simple melody (that is easy enough to predict and follow) sung with one sound (la or da) instead of words.  Rabbi Spiegel paused to quiz the group on the purpose of opening with a nigun, which he said is to allow everyone to participate, even if one does not know the Hebrew words to the traditional songs.  It is to make everyone welcome, which was a nice way to start since, after that, we launched into Hebrew songs and blessings that were much harder for me to follow!  I was familiar with one song, though.  The words, “Hine mah Tov umah naʿiym sheveth aḥ-iym gam ya-ḥadh,” mean “behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together,” and we sang it with linked arms as Rabbi Spiegel played guitar. 

After a few more songs, it was time to bless the challah (a Jewish braided bread) and wine.  Then, Rabbi Spiegel led us in a short discussion about the coming Jewish High Holidays and the current Jewish month, Elul, which is dedicated to repentance of sins.  He taught us that, in Judaism, forgiveness abounds, but sins against others are only forgiven by making things right with those that were wronged.  Personally, I think this adds weight to the sins against others because only the sinner can right them.  It was a beautiful and well-needed exercise to think about asking for and giving forgiveness.

 

Next came a delicious dinner catered by Noodles and Co. and some great discussions.  There were about 6 of us, including Nonie, Hillel’s kind faculty advisor, that stayed half hour past dinner talking about everything from Israel trips to Greek houses on campus.  It was so nice to relax and spend time in the cozy Blue House with some wonderful people. 

 

Shalom, everyone, and enjoy your week!

 

Peace.

Lauren

 

 

By Lauren Reed

Hello, my friends!

Thanks for visiting me here! I created this blog mainly as a means to keep Butler’s community up to date with what I am doing in my internship for the Center for Faith and Vocation in the Fall 2012 semester. My official title, the Butler University Interfaith Liaison, is a new position that Judy Cebula, the CFV director, and I are sort of honing as we go along, which is very very exciting! Internships like this have existed in the past, but in different capacities and with different duties. The fantastic thing about this year is how diverse my responsibilities are; I’ll be attending religious and spiritual group meetings, connecting with campus leaders, and researching interfaith initiatives, but I’ll also have a chance to attend and even help facilitate religious events, network, have coffee with Butler students, help religious and spiritual groups teach and share with each other, blog about everything (something very different for me!), learn about other religions and practices, and, most importantly, EXPERIENCE things that are bigger than myself, which is, to be honest, why I have a religion minor in the first place. These are things that I would have wanted to do anyways and now I’ll just have a reason to do them, even when the semester gets busy. So, I feel pretty lucky to have this internship and I hope you’ll keep up to date with this blog so I can share my experience with you!

A little about my current path. I am a senior dance performance major with a minor in religion. I call these my useless degrees (don’t worry; I don’t actually mean it). I don’t intend for either of these areas to be a lifelong career- I want to dance until I fall apart and then get my Masters in Student Affairs and continue immerse myself in religions as a lifelong passion. I guess, if this gives me one advantage, it’s that I’m not wasting any time here at Butler. I know that what I’m doing here won’t be forever, so I want to do it all now. This year will be especially tumultuous for me since auditions for dance companies are coming up in the spring and I have absolutely no idea where I’ll end up if anywhere at all. I don’t like not knowing. The upside to this is that I have all the more reason to throw myself into my last year here and soak up everything I can. Another reason I am so grateful for the opportunities this internship will give.

So that’s that! Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you’ll visit again soon! (Is that the right blog lingo? I have so much to learn…) I’ll post in a few days with some exciting college interfaith initiatives/partnerships formed by Obama!

Peace,
Lauren