This week the office of Religious & Spiritual Life offered students (and others passing by on the Driscoll Bridge) the opportunity to craft Mother's (and Father's) Day cards. We try to have as many materials available, the 4 "S's" -- stickers, stamps, stencils, and sharpies. Some students confess that they are "not artistic", and so REALLY appreciate the options. Others are VERY artistic and eschew all of the "helps" except the sharpies. We've been doing this for about eight years, and many students tell us that they look forward to the opportunity to stop thinking about Econ or Calculus and to re-engage their inner pre-schooler, with the hope that, when they return home, they'll see that hand-made card on the fridge.
Staffing the table is sometimes a challenge for those of us who are more . . . well, "introverted". But my experience, as well as that of my fellow introverts, is that, once we get going, and folks start making cards, the conversation flows. We talk about majors, weekend/vacation plans, and post-graduation plans. I often ask where students call "home", and am frequently surprised to learn that I have (or can easily find) some connection with, at least, their home state. Once that connection is made, a lot of remaining barriers fall and we have a blast.
Yesterday afternoon, I returned to do my "shift", and found a group of international students all making cards. "Staffing" the table was someone I had not met. A Chinese visiting scholar (I learned), he had taken over for the student who was at the table, but who needed to head to class. As we started talking, he told me that one of the people he had met, while at the table, had connections with his sister in China. Another person he had met knew a friend of his in New Mexico. And then he discovered that he and I had another "DU" (that is, Duke University) in common. He said to me, "Three different connections, all realized at this table. It's a magic table!"
As I've reflected on that observation, I've come to realize that he's right! At that table, not only are introverts freed a bit from their "enclosure", but "magical creatures" may arrive to make cards (as in the photo above), and connections not necessarily apparent are discovered and celebrated. There is certainly something "magical" about being around a table--especially a table covered with things that might engage us, whether craft-materials or food. It's no surprise, then, that so many of our religious rituals are "table-based".
Lesson learned: approach all tables with the expectation that something transformative may happen . . . and it just might! "Magic" can happen!
Staffing the table is sometimes a challenge for those of us who are more . . . well, "introverted". But my experience, as well as that of my fellow introverts, is that, once we get going, and folks start making cards, the conversation flows. We talk about majors, weekend/vacation plans, and post-graduation plans. I often ask where students call "home", and am frequently surprised to learn that I have (or can easily find) some connection with, at least, their home state. Once that connection is made, a lot of remaining barriers fall and we have a blast.
Yesterday afternoon, I returned to do my "shift", and found a group of international students all making cards. "Staffing" the table was someone I had not met. A Chinese visiting scholar (I learned), he had taken over for the student who was at the table, but who needed to head to class. As we started talking, he told me that one of the people he had met, while at the table, had connections with his sister in China. Another person he had met knew a friend of his in New Mexico. And then he discovered that he and I had another "DU" (that is, Duke University) in common. He said to me, "Three different connections, all realized at this table. It's a magic table!"
As I've reflected on that observation, I've come to realize that he's right! At that table, not only are introverts freed a bit from their "enclosure", but "magical creatures" may arrive to make cards (as in the photo above), and connections not necessarily apparent are discovered and celebrated. There is certainly something "magical" about being around a table--especially a table covered with things that might engage us, whether craft-materials or food. It's no surprise, then, that so many of our religious rituals are "table-based".
Lesson learned: approach all tables with the expectation that something transformative may happen . . . and it just might! "Magic" can happen!
Namasté,
Gary
Note: A HUGE shout-out of thanks to Danielle G, Danielle X, Marshall S, Ryan B, Hana A, Steve (from China), and any other impromptu table-staffers!
Note: A HUGE shout-out of thanks to Danielle G, Danielle X, Marshall S, Ryan B, Hana A, Steve (from China), and any other impromptu table-staffers!
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