Omer Day 9: Learning

I hope the low-hanging fruits of yesterday tasted good!  I know mine have motivated me to keep going.  In fact, tonight, I have a plan to keep working at my organizing that I had started!

But before we get too carried away, we still have some planning to do.  Now that we have identified what areas we might want to focus on, what our strengths, weaknesses, resources, hopes and dreams may be, I'm recommending that we take some time to learn.  Study, research, gain new insight - when we gain acquire new perspectives, we can't help but see the world and ourselves differently.  We change when we learn.

Today's learning is aligned with the Rabbis Organizing Rabbis (ROR) group that I've been working with.  I'm going to do some learning on the topic of Immigration Reform and I invite you to do so, as well.  Here is a blog post by Rabbi Samuel Gordon, who has been a part of the Chicago group of organizers who have had some incredibly powerful (both in an emotional way and in an effectiveness-way) experiences.

I've been reading through these sights in order to further educate myself on the issues involved in immigration reform so that I can become a better advocate.  Though we are at a standstill in congress (what else is new?) it really does seem as though this is not such a partisan issue - everyone sees the need for a better set of laws, it's just a matter of what the laws are and who is brave enough to stick their neck out and stand for something, as opposed to just waiting to see what one's voter base will tolerate.  I'll list the sights below (though I highly recommend if you look at just one, go to the Reform movement's Religious Action Center, where the Jewish basis for Immigration Reform is nicely stated).

The reason our ROR group has been putting out the "I Stand with Ruth" campaign is to bring back to the collective consciousness our struggle for a better system of immigration laws.  We recently heard from a group of organizers in Chicago the story of a meeting between a local organizing group who is seeking immigration reform and a conservative congressman who came to office by affiliating with the Tea Party movement.  They brought to his attention the story of an individual who was going to be deported after being pulled over for a broken tail light.  That "crime" led the police to discover his status as a person who had come here illegally.  The problem was that his child (or children - unsure about this detail), who is/are US citizens, would be here in the US without a parent.  This congressperson stepped into write a letter to the judge advocating that the individual in question NOT be deported, so that his family could stay together.  He said it went against his Christian values to separate children from their parents. Yet, he said he felt he could not commit to larger reforms to address such problems for fear that he would be challenged by that same Tea Party group that helped him get into office in a future primary.

Regardless of how one might feel about immigration reform as a whole, a story like this one exposes the challenges our current system brings to our society.  Enforcing the law could lead to a slew of children growing up in the foster care system in America or at the very least, growing up without being able to see one of their parents - not because the parent cares little for their children, but ultimately because they care that much for their children.  This is one of many reasons to continue pushing for a system to be changed.

Ha-Yom tishah yamim she-hem sh'vuah achad ushnai yamim la-omer

Today is Day 9 of the Omer, which is one week and two days of the Omer

DAY 9 JOURNAL: What have I learned today that can help me continue to improve myself?

DAY 9 ACTION: Spend some time researching a topic that can be helpful in the quest for self-improvement, helping us to our goals.




My Journaling:

So, my learning today was geared towards immigration reform.

• I learned of the following great site from the National Immigration Forum - it taught me that there may be some more local groups here in NC that I might be able to partner with in taking action locally.  

• These are the kinds of heart-breaking stories caused by the current system - they do not have to continue to emerge!

• I found a great resource for those who might have questions about immigration status and application. 

• I learned that House Speaker John Boehner may not be so opposed to immigration reform, afterall. . .

• Immigration success stories like this one are getting harder and harder to find, as many of the most talented who are even studying here in the US cannot get the proper paperwork to continue advancing our homegrown companies and technological advances. 

Day 9: Full of Discipline!

Today is Day 9, which is week 1 and 2 days of the Omer. . . Ha-yom tishah yamim, she-hem sh'vua echad u'snay yamim la-omer.

 

 

THE OMER INTERSECTION: Gevurah + Gevurah;  Lots of Discipline

 

What is the discipline of discipline?  This is the question that we are faced with today.  What does it take to remain committed to the various ongoing tasks that have become central to our lives? Whether it is diet or exercise, answering emails or calling a sibling every Thursday evening - we have certain behavioral patterns that we have chosen to stick to in order to accomplish various goals.  How do we ensure that we do not got so carried away with our discipline that we lose sight of the bigger picture of why we are doing what we do in the first place?  Is there room for more discipline in our lives that can help us use our time more efficiently and allow us to accomplish more of our aspirations?

THE OMER CHALLENGE: 

So, how do we apply this idea?  To start, any reflections on the above questions will be helpful.  However, I want to focus on the last question for a challenge of the day.  We all have long lists of goals we wish to accomplish, whether actually written out or most-likely in our minds.  And we all have pesky items that just remain on our lists day after day, month after month, year after year.  How do we ever find the time to put some focus and discipline on accomplishing these goals?  It feels as though our days are already packed, and there is no time for getting to these items, no matter how important they are. 

One of the ways to clear up some space for such additional discipline is to assess the ways in which we are using our time.  Are we committing ourselves to the goals we find to be most important, or do we find ourselves focusing our time on more minor pursuits that we would rather put further down on our priority lists?  The way to do this is to create a time journal: for at least today, and perhaps, if possible, for the rest of the week of gevurot, consider jotting down the amount of time spent on all the things we do during the day into a spreadsheet.  At the end of the day, assign each of the entries to a certain goal we have for ourselves.  Calculate the percentage of time being put forth in each of these goal areas, and see if it matches what we hope for our priorities.  This might help us understand where we might be able to shift priorities a bit and find areas to incorporate more discipline.  

Sometimes it takes an investment of time in order to clear up more time.  May this task help us all understand how be disciplined in the use of our discipline, allowing us to find more of that most-precious gift of time.         

 

THE OMER UPDATE:

It turns out that it is difficult to examine our routines mid-routine.  Often, by the time I realized that I was engaging in an activity that I routinely do in order to accomplish bigger goals, I was practically done with it and ready to move on to the next task at hand.  This left precious little time for reflection, especially finding how to link my actions to chesed. 
That being said, when I did allow myself the chance to seek out the love behind what I was doing today, I found it to be a wonderful pole to which I could anchor myself.  I realized that a great deal of my day is spent dedicating myself to helping other people, which is something I have always valued.  And it helped me to bring the same passion and focus to more mundane parts of my day as I have when I am face-to-face with another person, journeying together.