Imagine if you didn’t eat anything from noon today until dinnertime tomorrow — that’s a long time — 30 hours without food. According to World Vision, 30 hours is about the length of time many people in struggling countries have to last between meals. And even then, it’s not as if the meal those people have is particularly satisfying.
This past weekend, members of the youth group at my church held a 30-Hour Famine, fasting for 30 hours to get a sense of what it might feel like to not eat for that long.
If you’re a member of the church, or a youth who attended the event, and you didn’t see the slide show yet, please e-mail me and I’ll provide the link and password.
At the start of the event, each teen was assigned an identity within a tribe. Most people in the tribes had some sort of disability they had to deal with for most of the weekend. The few who had no disability had to pick up the slack for everybody else, carrying things for people, and taking care of those who had a hard time moving around.
For example, she was blind.
Blindness can be caused by a vitamin A deficiency, just one of the hunger-related problems the youth learned about.
Throughout the weekend, we were only allowed juice and water, but, as in many areas where starvation is a problem, the juice and water was not necessarily distributed fairly. (Even so, our young people had plenty to drink.)
To learn about the difficulties faced by communities that don’t have enough water, the water was turned off in the church building. Each tribe had to fetch their water from three long blocks away. And they had to be careful about how much water they used, conserving their precious commodity, and protecting it from other tribes.
The water they carried over in jugs was used for everything from brushing teeth and washing faces to flushing the toilets. That was challenging, and it was a good lesson for all of us to think about how much water we use every day.
The water outside was turned back on Saturday morning for a car wash. On empty stomachs, the youth worked from 9 until noon scrubbing cars and raising money for a Habitat for Humanity mission trip later this summer.
They even made their own t-shirts, decorating them using stencils and fabric paint. The one above says, “I starved so others wouldn’t.”
From home, each person brought ingredients to make stone soup. They worked in the kitchen in shifts all afternoon preparing the meal from scratch that they would eat later that night. It was torture to smell the food cooking. Sampling was not allowed.
To get a sense of the sheer number of people who die from hunger and hunger-related illnesses, the teens placed 1,200 crosses, each one representing one person who had died of hunger in the last hour, in the church pews. The kids had to keep going back to re-space the crosses in the pews, making them closer and closer together, because the boxes of crosses kept coming. Eventually, the walkways outside were also lined with crosses since they wouldn’t all fit inside.
By Saturday afternoon, energy levels were at a major low.
Once we blessed our food — and what a blessing it truly was — most of the food was gone in minutes! That was the best stone soup I’ve ever tasted!
People who came to church on Sunday morning had to move the crosses in order to sit down, and Pastor Curtis Lane Paul II, the organizer of the Famine event, used the experience to tell the congregation about the weekend.
The visual of each person holding up a cross representing someone who had died of hunger in the previous hour was very powerful.
If you meant to donate, but missed your opportunity to sponsor one of the teens, you can still send a donation to the church.
The best news is that all donations are being matched FOUR TIMES by the U.S. government, so if you were to send in a donation of $20, a total of $80 would go to help feed people in struggling nations. Make your check out to “World Vision” and mark “30-Hour Famine” in the memo field.
Please send your donation to
First Presbyterian Church
270 Woodbridge Ave.
Metuchen, NJ 08840
Special thanks to all the youth for making the commitment to work towards ending hunger. What a truly admirable thing to do. I am so proud of you all!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:07 pm
The grand finale of yesterday’s choir concert at my church featured over a hundred singers and bell ringers from choirs of all ages.
I set up some preliminary camera settings during a quick run-through of the last song. What a difference the robes make, huh? It’s so pretty when all the choirs are standing together!
Some choir member I am — I ran up to the balcony during the last song to take pictures. But I liked being able to hear the big beautiful sound all those singers made. Our choir director is fantastic! We love you, Brenda! You are such a blessing to our church and community!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:12 pm
The other night, several youth from my church went to a puppet show featuring the PETER Puppets.
In the picture above, “Skip” is trying to figure out what to do about a peer pressure problem.
He gets some solid advice from an old friend.
And he sings too!
The youth from our church who went to the show are part of our own puppet ministry. The kids research, write, rehearse and perform stories at our church, so we thought it would be educational for them to see how the pros do it!
At the end of the show, Chris, of PETER Puppets, spoke to our kids about how he got his start in puppet ministry.
Our kids were inspired by the show and are excited to continue to develop stories for our church! We’re doing a promo skit this Sunday during Children’s Time for this summer’s Vacation Bible School featuring Prince William! Shhhhh! Don’t want to give too much away. See you in church on Sunday! It’s going to be so much fun!
P.S. Note to Chris and the PETER Puppets: My 7-year-old son, Gregory, whispered to me during the show: “Mom, they spelled ‘Soda Shop’ backwards.”
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:40 pm
Six days after Easter: This is the day on which we first observe the emergence of leaves on the dogwood we are watching. Pathetically, the pool only has one entry: mine. I am guessing she’ll be at full blossom by Day 21 after Easter. What’s your guess?
Both of the pictures in today’s post were taken Saturday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. See the leaf buds on this one? I love watching trees grow!
As a little bonus spring shot, this is the view from my desk at The Times. Those are Natasha’s flowers. Thanks, Natasha, for the pretty view!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:38 am
Four days after Easter: This bud is near the top of the tree. This could take weeks!
In case you’re new to the blog, we’re watching to see how many days after Easter my dogwood blossoms. Let’s start a pool! I’ll start the bidding at 21 days after Easter for fully opened blossoms over most of the tree.
Remember Twirly? Bradley says I should make a “wanted” poster with this picture. He’s seriously squirrel obsessed.
Wanted: one dogwood that can survive a winter’s worth of squirrel claws.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:14 pm
Three days after Easter: Did I say I would POST a picture of my dogwood every day until she blossoms, or just TAKE one? Well, in any case, for my dogwood followers, here’s yesterday’s picture, a close-up on manual focus. I have really bad eyes, so manual focus is iffy at best. I love the hint of the crown of thorns in this shot though.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:33 pm
We’ve been watching all week to see if the dogwood might blossom in time for Easter. Considering the fact that she normally blossoms around the middle of April, I figured there wasn’t much chance this year. But we watched anyway, just to see if there would be any sign of life in the winter bud. While she has looked pretty much the same every day in terms of bud-opening, or not opening, she certainly is colorful when we look closely!
The picture above was taken before the sunrise Easter service at my church, at around 6:30 a.m. The golden color is the light in the dining room glowing in the window. She’s not blossoming in time for Easter, but true to my promise, look for a picture a day until she does blossom!
The rest of the pictures below follow in chronological order, generally, through my Easter Sunday, starting with the sunrise service in the church cemetery, above.
That’s Bradley singing in the choir — he’s the tall one in the center in the tie. I promised him that every year after he sings at the sunrise service, I’ll take him to Dunkin’ Donuts. That’s worth getting up at 6 for. No?
The light was beautiful.
But man, it was COLD! Somebody said it was around 30 degrees when the service started.
Love the light in this one too.
In between services, I took the obligatory boys-dressed-up-for-Easter picture. Gregory just LOVES having his picture taken. He sang at the 9 o’clock in a robe three sizes too small. Next year, I promise, Gregory will have a robe that fits.
My choir fully appreciates Brenda, our director/organist, especially after the later services on Easter Sunday when she plays that Toccata for the postlude. I always know it’s Easter when I hear that Toccata. And I love to hear Amy sing “Was It a Morning Like This?” I especially like the lyrics, “Did the grass sing? Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?” Thanks, Amy and Brenda, for being such a big part of Easter for me!
I’m not saying a word.
The senior choir sings at two indoor services on Easter. In between, we are treated to omelettes courtesy of Ramon. (I paid for mine with a picture.)
My omelette was delicious and there were NO BUGS!
All joking aside, Ramon, you are the OMELETTE KING of the Easter feast! Thanks!
After church, I went hunting for proof of spring. Found it in one little tulip on the verge of blooming in my backyard…
…Found it in the games of wiffle ball too…
…and in the bird watching.
Found spring in the outdoor child supervising.
…And more wiffle ball.
I love this picture of all my boys.
Did I mention the G-rex loves having his picture taken? (Not really, but he LOVES being on the blog so I promised I’d get a post done for him as long as he gave me a nice picture! Yay!)
Was it a beautiful day or WHAT?!
Name that park. (That’s TOO easy!)
It’s still cold enough for ice skating.
Bradley is the man of many colors today. From choir boy in a tie at sunrise, to bird watcher, wiffle player, military virologist (yeah, don’t ask, trust me on that one)…
…to slurping jello through a straw in the evening.
I love my family!
Thank you to all my blog readers for taking this “Walk Through Holy Week” with me. I’ll continue to update you on the dogwood until she blossoms. I have faith that she will eventually show us her colors, reminding us of her Easter story, even if Easter has come and gone so early.
Peace, my friends,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:28 pm
This is my new favorite “unportrait” of Bradley and Gregory! Love the angles, the light, the sky, the clouds, the honey locust trees, the depth, everything! COOL! We were out all afternoon playing on this beautiful Saturday before Easter, and I took lots of pictures of my sweet boys. LOVE YOU, GUYS!
Later on, as I started to edit the pictures in the waning light of sunset, I was talking to my mom on the phone — she lives in Charleston where the dogwoods are in full blossom and I’m SO jealous — and she asked me if I knew why Easter is so early this year.
By the way, here’s today’s dogwood mugshot. (And some more randomly scattered throughout this disorganized post.) My dogwood is not going to blossom by Easter morning. But we knew that already and can still appreciate the Charleston dogwoods, thanks to my friend, Jill.
So anyway, the timing of Easter for us Western Christians (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox Christians) is based on a complicated formula of the Gregorian calendar, as in Pope Gregory XIII. (My Gregory will like reading that one!)
Generally speaking, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs after the vernal equinox.
But that’s not entirely true.
Because the “full moon” of which we speak is not the ACTUAL full moon, but an ecclesiastical full moon, which just means that it’s the full moon as determined from tables, and not necessarily the exact date of the astronomical full moon.
But, thankfully, that table of full moons is pretty close to the astronomical one. Phew!
So, Easter falls on the first Sunday…
… following the ecclesiastical full moon…
…that occurs on or after…
… the day of the vernal equinox.
This ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation. (Day 1 of a tabular lunation corresponds to the ecclesiastical new moon.)
(Got a headache yet?)
… And since the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21…
… that means that Easter can never fall before March 22 or later than April 25.
The vernal equinox occurred on March 20 this year, and the ecclesiastical full moon occurred on March 21, so, happy Easter tomorrow!
Just remember, you can’t go by the astronomical full moon…
… because there are differences between the astronomical full moon and the ecclesiastical one. Lunar motion is a complex system!
In 1962, for example, the astronomical full moon was on March 21, 6 hours AFTER the astronomical equinox. The ecclesiastical full moon was on March 20 and BEFORE the ecclesiastical equinox on March 21. If the date of Easter was determined by the astronomical full moon, Easter would have been on March 25 in 1962. But following the rules, Easter was not until the Sunday that came after the next ecclesiastical full moon on Wednesday, April 18. So Easter Sunday fell on April 22 in 1962. My brothers, Steve and Bill, age 2 and 4 then, would have had a grand and fully warm Easter that year!
And I most definitely have a headache!
So for my mom, down in Charleston with the blossoming dogwoods, here’s a pretty bud for you and the gift of answering your question, “Why does Easter fall so early this year?” (Information gleaned from the United States Naval Observatory and various calendars and astronomical tables.)
Above, that’s my dogwood from the point of view of the squirrel-proof bird feeder looking up at the sky.
Incidentally, here’s a little Julie tidbit for all my loyal blog readers…
… my mom was BORN on Easter Sunday! Her name is Easter! Her birthday won’t fall on Easter again until 2018, on which date, she says, she will turn 4 years old.
…Because thanks to leap year and the ecclesiastical moons and the vernal equinox and the… oh never mind… I have to be at church at 6:40 a.m. GOODNIGHT!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:17 pm
At last night’s Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service, the bell in the Sanctuary tolled 33 times in complete darkness, once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth. After the last bell, and a moment of silence in a crowded Sanctuary, the pastor lit the Christ candle, symbol of hope for what is to come on Easter morning, and yet we leave the Sanctuary in darkness, speaking little, if at all, to our friends as we headed toward Good Friday.
Instead, we listened to the profound silence.
As I was walking into the church last night, the sky was beautiful against the trees and clouds. Can you see the moon? (Bottom center.) Bradley and I have always thought of pink clouds as being a symbol of hope, so I thought it was interesting that I’d be walking into church last night and notice pink clouds.
This morning Bradley and I watched the alternate DVD version of the movie “I Am Legend” with a different ending from the theatrical one.
SPOILER ALERT. Not to worry. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, my discussion will not spoil if for you, so keep reading.
A voiceover in the alternate version says, “You are not alone. There is hope. Keep listening.”
That’s the message of Easter! Because I committed myself to writing about Holy Week, I’ve been listening very carefully, and watching with an open mind, waiting for inspiration.
The great thing is: It was there all along! All I had to do was open my eyes and ears.
I hear it in the seasons, too, watching the trees. Above, today’s dogwood mugshot.
We’ve been watching her all week. And even though I’m pretty sure MY dogwood won’t blossom in time for Easter morning, the dogwoods SOMEwhere are blossoming!
In fact, just today, my friend, Jill, in Charleston, took pictures of her blossoming dogwood and posted them on her blog JUST FOR US! See? Keep listening and watching.
There is hope!
Coming tomorrow on my walk: don’t know yet. I’m still waiting for inspiration.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 4:05 pm
The title of this post should have been “A Day of Random Reflections” because that’s what it’s turned out to be. My life has a weird randomness to it that has my head spinning.
I’ll start with the first pictures of the day, taken around 2 a.m. at the Metuchen train station, above.
That truck was too tall to fit under the train trellis. It rammed into the bridge and sheared off the top of the cab.
I’m just letting you know in case you heard a really loud crash some time last night and wondered what it was.
I thought the parking sign was interesting covered with rain drops and glowing in the streetlight. The randomness of the little reflections combined with “24″ as in round-the-clock randomness — see? That sign is my life.
Ever since I got my new camera, I wondered if I could take a picture of the church courtyard at night with no flash, and actually get a decent shot. It worked!
First thing this morning, I checked on the dogwood.
Still not much movement in the blossoming department, but the pictures are challenging my graphic edgyness. I like the one above for it’s random focus, yet nicely spaced intervals.
I took this one of Bradley working at the computer, trying to see if I could get a cool reflection in his glasses. Ah, not so cool, but I still like the picture. It has a graphic composition of balanced corners that I like.
To complete the circle of randomness, I went to the Concert for Peace at Gregory’s school today. That’s Gregory, the tall one in the tie.
Above, and below: random pictures from the concert.
(Wide angle lens.)
(Sisters.)
Just after the bow at the end of the concert. (He bowed into her head!)
I’m heading out the door in a minute. My choir is singing at the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service at church, my favorite worship service of the whole year, and the one which will end my randomness for the day. The church will grow darker as the service progresses through the story of Jesus’s last night, ending with the Sanctuary in complete darkness, the symbol of the darkness of the tomb. And then one candle, the Christ candle will be lit…
Coming tomorrow on my walk: Hope.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:41 pm
