Congressional Summary and SuperBowl!

This week I attended a Congress on the Anthropology of the Human Person. It was my first introduction to the Spirituality of the Christian Life Movement. Now, I think that I'm a pretty smart guy, and I have studied philosophy in the past, but this stuff was pretty heavy. I was extremely impressed with the intellectual firepower this Movement has.

I'm not going to claim to be able to summarize everything that I heard this week, but what I will try to do is take some of the pieces I grasped (it's more difficult to understand complex philosophy when it's being translated by non-professionals than one would think, although they did a great job for not being professionals, yet some things were certainly lost in translation).

The CLM Spirituality seems to be able to analyze the current issues of today, in a non-political way, and tear these approaches down philosophically, revealing the core beliefs about humanity that many of these ideologies claims.

Also, they draw on classic philosophy to explain how civilizations developed, and they also consider current philosophical movements and how they're causing the turmoil that we're seeing today. The other important piece, they note, is the technological and communicative change we are experiencing, thereby shrinking the world. Many of these philosophies are able to attack and gain followers so much more quickly, and without a proper analysis of what the end result of the ideology is - think marketing and packaging.

Topics at the conference included (translated by me, so they may not be exact):

• Carism and Spirtuality
• The Human Person and our Fundamental Dynamism
• The Human Person and our Relational Dynamic
• Fundamentals of Industrial Anthropology in Greek thought
• Body, Soul, and Spirit in the Sacred Scripture
• The Human Person, made in the Image and Likeness of God
• The Vision and Trial of Man
• Original Sin and key anthropology
• The Lord, Forgiveness and Revelation of the Human Person
• The Human Person and Free Cooperatoin with Grace

I think I've met more professionals (ie. doctors, lawyers, professors, etc.) in 3 weeks here than I've met in my life. The thing that is really appealing, is that they just don't work as professionals, they do their work for the most disadvataged, while at the same time working on intellectual initiatives. It's a great balance that I hope to achieve.

These men are called "Sodalites" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodalite, a sodalite is a "form fitting rock", think St. Peter, "the Rock." It's also rare, but found in large numbers (like the Movement). I don't know if they were named after this rock, or if it's just a coincidence, but it's a neat connection.

Clarification: The Sodalites are not named after the rock. The founder of the
sodalites found them in a rock shop on his birthday one day and made the
connection symbolically. The rock actually stands for (reconciliation). The
rocks are mostly found in Brazil and parts of Canada. They are bright blue rocks
(color of Mary).

Well, today is the SuperBowl and I haven't really found anyone that cares about American Football, so I'm going to throw my own party. I'm thinking about ordering some Dominos and having a traditional SuperBowl Party for myself!

More Congress Updates

Last night the Congress went a lot better for me for a couple of reasons. First, I felt better. Second, the speakers weren't speaking a million miles an hour. Third, we had handouts in English on the Powerpoint slides. Fourth, they turned down the heating lamps above my head that were frying me. Fifth, the pieces to the puzzle were starting to come together a bit more. I'm going to hold off on putting my thoughts down on paper yet, because I still have some more reflection and research to do before really being able to communicate the concepts.


One of the aspects of the Congress is Relgious Artwork. Above, you can see a sculpture of St. Rose of Lima. Apparently St. Rose is almost always depicted with a baby Jesus. I really need to read more about her...

This picture is a part of an 8ft tall piece of work that has all these little characters in different scenes. Above you can see the Bishop and the people singing around the tomb of Jesus.

After the Congress, my roommate, his friend Juan, and I went out to grab a bite to eat. When walked a bit to this diner and I was greeted with this fake US $20 bill. Apparently, the owner is showing that they can detect forged bills and this is what happens if you try to use them here.

One thing that really annoys me about Peru is the tiny, thin napkins that are provided. Essentially they're only for "one time" use. I pretty much go through 5-6 of these little suckers at every meal.

After dinner, I got a history lesson from these guys. I learned a lot about the liberation of South America and how "history" incorrectly celebrates the liberation as a mostly South American battle, when in reality, the British and French were dominate players in trying to dissmantle Spain's colonial influence. One comment that Juan made really resonated with me, "I don't think that South America was ready for independence. We kind of had it forced upon us without the structure and ability to govern on our own." This made a lot of sense to me. How can a people, with no experience in democracy, or ruling for that matter, be expected to produce a democracy? This, I think, is a good example of what may happen in Iraq and Afganistan. Instead of a full Representational Democracy, maybe something simpler like a Democratic Monarchy, which moves the people in the right direction, without completely overthrowing power, might be more realistic.

Also, notice in this picture the great care that they are taking trying to get over this little fence. I just stepped over this thing with no problem, but being short Peruvians, they were in quite the predicament. Let's just say the pole was a little to high for comfort...

Feeling better...

I'm feeling a bit better as I write this entry. For those of you who have been following along, this is the second stomach episode I've had, but luckily it wasn't as bad as the first go round.

Here are some pictures from the Congress on the Anthropology of the Human Person:

I really liked this depiction of the last supper (Peruvian style). If you can't tell, the food is tradition Peruvian. Very cool.

There are about 50 Religious Sisters here, and maybe 70 in formation (the sisters have the navy blue habits and the ones in formation wear white). The really awesome thing is 95% of them are under the age of 40! I believe they are one of the fastest growing orders in the world.

A couple hundred of us taking a break and getting a snack.

Outside of the art exhibit.

Tomorrow I'll share some information on what the Anthropology of the Human Person is all about (because it's pretty amazing!).

Until then, I better rest up and feel better for another busy day tomorrow!