Danielle Stevens’ Commonplace Book reflections

Danielle took Social Justice at SLU in the fall of 2006.

“I believe that this is the nature of a rich country. Consumerism is to consume for mere pleasure more than is necessary. This is exactly the contrary when you come from a poor country. The things I notice the most seem like a joke. That is, here in the United States the most sought-after foods are low-calories. The most valued food in poor countries is food with calories. It’s understandable, but it’s an incredible contradiction.” (33)

America is an incredibly materialistic country and we take consumerism to a whole new level. Whenever I read something about our consuming society or the materialism of America, I tend to always agree that our society is way too materialistic. However, at the same time I am being a complete hypocrite. Although, I am not an incredibly materialistic person, I am a person that will buy things that I want but that I do not necessarily need. My parents have enough money to spoil me at Christmas and on my birthday. So how can I be so hypocritical? Hypocrisy is my least favorite attribute in people; I really cannot stand when people are hypocritical. However, here I am being exactly what I hate. I don’t want to be a materialistic person and add to the consumer image of America, but it is also difficult for me to change. I do not know if I would be able to part with all my possessions and live a simpler life because I have grown accustomed to my life. I am searching for a happy medium.

“Sobrino told Mev that the world didn’t just need liberation theologians but also needed liberation accountants, architects, writers. And photographers.” (54)

I like this statement by Sobrino because it makes me feel better about myself. There are so many injustices occurring in this world that I feel like something needs to be done about it. Yet, I don’t always know what I can do to help. I don’t know if I have the guts to move to a third world country and throw myself right into the action like so many people have done. Sometimes I wish I could do that, but it was good to hear another perspective from Sobrino and when I thought about what he said, it is true. We need social activists who will move to third world countries and devote their lives to their cause but we also need social activists in other realms as well. No matter what career you follow, you can always raise awareness and use the skills you have in some way to help out. I had never really thought about it this way, but everyone can be a social activist, it is just on different levels. I had always thought there was really only one type of social activist, but even on the small scale you can be a social activist.

“Look, I myself, by the very fact of being a bishop, am not poor. Anyone who goes through a university or seminary or novitiate isn’t poor, because we have more possibilities, a culture, a backing that simple poor people lack.” (144)

Even priests who adopt a life of simplicity are not poor like the poor people who lack an education. Simply the fact that I am receiving a college education makes me much more rich than the majority of the people in this world. The fact is that even those with a high school education are far richer than many people in the world. The truth of the matter is that the majority of poor people in the world have no education at all or at best a grade school education. I take my college education for granted so often. There was never a question of whether I would go to college or not, it was always just assumed that college would definitely be in my future. I can’t imagine not receiving an education or only receiving a little education; my whole life up to this point has been defined by my education. I have spent my whole life as a student and it is so much a part of who I am, I’ve realized I need to start learning to appreciate the things I take for granted in life.

“The soldiers put us on the pavement and trained their rifles at our heads. They were shouting, ‘Politik! Politik!’ We were shouting back, ‘America! America!’ and I think that my have been the thing that saved us. They had taken my passport earlier but Amy showed them hers, and the soldiers seemed impressed when they realized that we were indeed from the States. We were, after all, citizens of the country that supplied them with M-16s.” (161)

This passage reminded me of a book that I recently read for one of my classes called “Live from Palestine.” This book talks about the solidarity movement in Palestine and has so many stories from Americans as well as other Internationals. Their status as foreigners saved them numerous times from the Israeli soldiers especially for the Americans who financially support the Israelis. Our citizenship protects us, while Palestinian citizenship or in the case of the quote, Timorese citizenship, condemns them to death. This passage is just another example of how being born in a certain country can give you such an advantage over being born in certain other countries This passage also brings up the point that the US supported the Indonesian troops who massacred the Timorese people. There are too many examples throughout our history where we have financially supported troops that have massacred the people and violated so many human rights. We cannot continue to support governments that create so many injustices in this world.

“All human wealth comes from community! All the support you receive truly comes from the community. When you are in need, the community protects you spiritually, they comfort you. And they also comfort you materially. Even if you only need a little bit, they comfort you and support you.” (225)

This passage stresses the importance of the community and its role in one’s life. We all belong to many different communities, both large and small. I belong to my family community, the SLU community, the American community and most importantly the community of the world. We are all one big human community and we need to start recognizing how similar we really are to each other. I have really started recognizing this fact in regards to the different religions of the world. The three Abrahamic religions have been the cause of many conflicts in our past as well as our present and most likely in out future as well. However, I have learned how similar all these religions really are, and how we all believe in the same God, the only differences that exist are in the specifics of the religion and in individual interpretation. We must begin to realize our similarities and embrace our community because we are all one big human community.

I do not have a specific quote for my last entry on the Book of Mev because it is difficult for me to pinpoint just one quote. Everything that is written after Mev was diagnosed with a brain tumor was extremely powerful. There were several stories toward the end about Mev and about Mark’s love for Mev that caused me to burst into tears on several occasions. I found myself having to put the book down at some points because I couldn’t read the words through my tears. Perhaps, I was so emotional because I feel like I have a connection with Mev. After reading her story and meeting and interacting with her husband on a weekly basis, I feel more connected to her as if I really knew her. It is always difficult to read or hear about someone suffering from a fatal illness, but Mev’s story particularly struck me. Her journal that talked about all the different emotions she was feeling was particularly powerful. I cannot imagine what it would be like to know that you are dying, but it seems like Mev faced this prognosis with courage and strength. The passages about Mark staying by Mev’s side throughout it all showed me what true love really is. I also like the passage where Mark finally broke down and said he could not do it anymore. We are all human and there is only so much pain we can endure. I’d like to thank you for sharing this book with me because it was so incredibly powerful and it was definitely a story that needs to be told because Mev was one amazing person who I would have liked to have known.