If the Moon Were Made of Cheese, it Would Have Melted by Now

October 10, 2006

7:00 AM

Three months living in Kyrgyzstan.

Nuts.


October 14, 2006

8:00 AM

Nothing long this week, just a few quotes:

First, from Martin Forward’s book Religion: A Beginner’s Guide. Martin was a professor, colleague, mentor, and most importantly, a friend of mine at Aurora University. He spent some time in his early twenties in a small Pakistani village learning the local language, Urdu (spelling?) and studying the faith and religion of the region. In his book, he mentions some of his time in Pakistan, using it as reference to sympathizing and integrating with other cultures and faiths. Taken slightly out of context, but perfectly applicable to my time here, Martin wrote:

“Even if we marry into another culture, speak another language and try out best to empathize, can we really see as others see? And even if we can, what use do we make of it?...My own experiences, including that of living in small Pakistani village, incline me to believe that what one can achieve are friendship, respect and appreciation; these are more easily attainable than insidership and empathy, and arguably more valuable” (Pg 33-34).

Thank you Martin, very well put, a great source of inspiration for myself in my current situation.

And now, onto another connection with Aurora University; a former student, current employee, and personally one of my dearest friends. I know he would hate to hear this, but I love the kid. Very few people in my life have been able to connect with me the way that he has, and it all happened in a relatively short span of time (about two years). I miss him, and he knows that. We formed a very disturbing friendship that scared many people when we arrived in their presence. Tim is currently an employee of Aurora University working as a fellow for one year. His official title is the Wackerlin Fellow for the Center for Faith and Action (http://www.aurora.edu/cfa/index.htm). His unofficial title is the “Hardest Working Man East of the Mississippi.” Before I came here to Kyrgyzstan, he did a lot of work to set up a trip to Turkey for a few of us through a non-profit organization based in downtown Chicago called the Niagara Foundation. Upon returning, he wrote a very long expose detailing our events on the trip. The entire article (titled ‘Love Writ Large’) is posted up on the CFA’s website, but my absolute favorite part of the entire thing is the opening paragraph:

“We learned some time ago that the seat of emotion in the human body was not in fact the heart, but resided somewhere in the brain. Still today, though, we rely on the heart to signify love and tenderness. I’ve often wondered why. Surely there is something that forces us to hang on to the outdated notion of the heart as a “feeling” organ. Those with no poetry (in their hearts) wouldn’t understand, but there is something that stirs in the chest during moments of extreme emotional excitement, and it’s not the lungs. Whether the heart I refer to is the physical lump of muscle that pumps blood or the spiritual force behind love is beside the point here. This is not about Aristotelian anatomy. This is not about finding out the meaning of love. This is about what makes my chest stir” (Pg 1).

Again, this quote is taken a bit out of context, but it still does a wonderful job of describing a lot of what I am experiencing here in Kyrgyzstan. Tim went on to talk about how it was Turkey that was “making his chest stir.” As you already expected, that sentiment can surely be felt and experienced on the other side of Asian continent, with me, here in Kyrgyzstan. Thank you Tim, your words and your thoughts, as always, are cherished. You are light years ahead the world you live in, I just hope that when you find a way to take more people of your exploration of knowledge, love, and human faith, that you find some room in your transport vehicle for me. I will accompany you where ever you choose to go, just tell me when and where.

That’s it from this end.

Be sure to check out the photo site, I’ve added a few new photos for you all to experience, love, and comment about.

Again, if you ever feel the need to call me or send me a package, let me know, I can get you the information needed to do either! Thank you to all who have been sending me emails! I miss and love you all!


WAIT, one more comment! I am currently in the process of working with Tim, from above, on setting up a massive donation drive/project for the school in my project. This is still in the very beginning stages, but it is moving fast along. The reason I am telling you all about this is that I want to drop the line into all of your heads that if you have anything, know of anyone, and can find to get a collection of materials (Books, School Supplies, Electronics, Money donations for shipping, Educational Posters, Random American Culture Posters, etc., use your imagination!), please contact me or Tim Brauhn (tbrauhn@aurora.edu). We are still working on the details of where to collect and how to ship, but for now I am just trying to let everyone know to start keeping an eye out. My school could use anything and everything you can find. We will find a way to get it here to me in Kyrgyzstan, and will let you know soon what to do with the stuff once you find it. But for now, please start looking around and collecting as much stuff as you can, we will keep you informed!

Thank you, and as always:

Peace and Love.

Yours truly,

Jason Andrew Lemberg

Жейсон Андруу Лемберг