Goodbye

I haven't blogged in awhile.

Well, I've been busy.

There has been a lot of life changes over the last few months.

• I finished my dissertation.
• I'm graduating. Finally.
• I found a job.
• I got engaged.

With so many transitions coming up, I feel a need to make room for the new by saying goodbye to the old. And that includes this blog. So goodbye, Living in Grace. It's been fun.

What are you doing on New Year's Eve?

This makes me happy.

Streams in the Desert

There is a peace that springs soon after sorrow,
     Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled;
A peace that does not look upon tomorrow,
     But calmly on the storm that it has stilled. 

A peace that lives not now in joy's excesses,
     Nor in the happy life of love secure;
But in the unerring strength the heart possesses,
     Of conflicts won while learning to endure. 

A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded,
     A life subdued, from will and passion free;
It's not the peace that over Eden brooded,
     But that which triumphed in Gethsemane.

~Streams in the Desert, December 9

Curried Couscous with Chicken and Zucchini

Picture originally found on http://batter-splattered.typepad.com

First off, I apologize for not following up with Part 2 on my previous post yet. My dissertation proposal is due to my committee this coming Monday, so I've been a little wrapped up with that. It is coming, but in the meantime, I want to share with you a recipe I tried and loved this week!

I downloaded the Epicurious app on my iPhone and found this amazing dish. Without further ado, here it is:


Curried Couscous with Chicken and Zucchini

Curried Chicken and Zucchini

I sliced up about 4-5 chicken thighs (the recipe calls for chicken breast but I tend to buy natural, vegetarian-fed chicken which can get expensive), rubbed in some salt and pepper, and sauteed the chicken until the pieces were golden brown. I removed the chicken from pan into a separate plate. I cut up 2 small zucchini into matchsticks and cooked them in the same pan as the chicken, seasoning the zucchini with salt and pepper. I then transferred the zucchini to the plate with the chicken.

I crushed two cloves of garlic, and cooked it with about half an onion in butter until the onion was softened. I then stirred in 1 tsp of curry powder before adding in 1 cup of chicken broth. I brought the mixture to a boil until it was reduced by half. I added in 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream and brought the mixture to a boil again until it was thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. I then turned the heat off and let the sauce sit.

I stirred the chicken and zucchini into the curry sauce and heated the mixture over moderate heat. I seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper, and stirred in some coursely chopped cilantro. 

Couscous

I sauteed another half an onion in butter until softened, and then stirred in 1 tsp of curry power. I then added some butter and 1 1/4 cup of chicken broth, bringing the mixture to a boil. I stirred in about 1 1/4 cup of couscous, and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper. I then turned off the heat, and let the mixture stand. I cut up about 2 tbsp of butter and stirred it into the couscous. I then let the couscous stand for another minute. I chopped up some cilantro and stirred it into the couscous. I then added in a little more salt and pepper. 

YUM! I squeezed some lime into the dish before indulging. Some thoughts - next time I try this recipe, I may use a red onion instead of white onion. I may also add some dried cranberries into the couscous.

The Dark Side of Categorization (Part 1)

Picture originally found on www.createourworld.net

I always joke that as a Social Psychologist, my job is finding out what is wrong with people.

Take categorization, for example.

As humans, we need to notice patterns and categories to make sense of the world. Being able to categorize the things we encounter is crucial to survival. This could be something as simple as categorizing red as a different color from green while encountering a traffic light, or distinguishing between foods that are poisonous to eat and foods that are safe to eat.

Not only do we categorize objects, but we also categorize people. As infants, we demonstrate the ability to distinguish between people of different races by responding more to those of the same race as our primary caretaker. We categorize people as tall or short, female or male, happy or sad, old or young. More importantly, we categorize people as "similar to me" and "not similar to me" or to put it more simply "us" verses "them."

Categorizing people is not necessarily a bad thing. For one, categorizing people can facilitate social interactions. It gives us shortcuts to know how to properly engage with others. We interact with countless others during our lifetime. Because it is impossible to "learn" a different social script each time we encounter someone new, we rely on categories as default for a starting point in how to interact with a new acquaintance. For example, let's say I meet a woman named Sally for the first time. I have never interacted with Sally before, but I do know that she is a nun. I rely on my knowledge of the category "nun" and assume that Sally is religious, conservative, and celibate. Because of that, I will take care not to use profanity or make jokes about drinking and sex when I meet Sally. While it is true that Sally may prove to be quite different from my understanding of a nun, relying on my categorization of "nun" gives me a starting point from which to interact with her. As I get to know Sally better, I can correct my perceptions accordingly.

The problem is when our categories are wrongly associated with certain attributes, or when we box people into the category they fall under. This, social psychologists argue, is one of the ways prejudices may form. Let's say, for example, that I may not have many personal interactions with homeless people. The little I do know is from the news or movies where they are more often than not portrayed incredibly negatively. Thus, when I do encounter homeless people, I assume from the start that they are lazy and unintelligent. Furthermore, I attend more to their behaviors that confirm of that stereotype, in essence preventing them from proving the stereotype wrong. And the less I know about a certain category, the more likely this is to happen.

I believe that it is fundamental need for humans to categorize one another. I also believe this fundamental human need to categorize contributes directly to prejudice as well as social inequalities. The connection to social inequalities, however, will be explained in Part 2 (coming soon).

The Discipline of Silence

"One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless. we are so accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. If we are silent, who will take control? God will take control, but we will never let him take control until we trust him. Silence is intimately related to trust.

"The tongue is our most powerful weapon of manipulation. A frantic stream of words flows from us because we are in a constant process of adjusting our public image. We fear so deeply what we think other people see in us that we talk in order to straighten out their understanding. If I have done some wrong thing (or even some right thing that I think you may misunderstand) and discover that you know about it, I will be very tempted to help you understand my action! Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit simply because it puts the stopper on all self-justification. 

"One of the fruits of silence is the freedom to let God be our justifier."

~Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline 

The Hunger Next Door

Note: The views expressed here are my personal views, not those of the Capital Area Food Bank of Central Texas.

I recently began a research internship at the Capital Area Food Bank of Central Texas. As part of my orientation, I was sent to help stock shelves at one of their food pantries located in the poorest parts of Austin.

Now, I will preface by saying I knew VERY LITTLE about poverty in Central Texas. As a graduate student, I am very insulated from class disparities. In the working environment, everyone around me is extremely well-educated and have a world of job prospects open to them. Even when my dad supported my mother and me on just his graduate stipend while I was growing up (and yes, that actually economically counts as living in poverty level), he knew financial relief was coming in a few years and worst case scenario, a small loan from my grandparents was only a phone call away. In my current social environment, even those who are not as highly educated are well off - whether it is due to their affluent background, or if it is because they have decent-paying jobs in a service industry. Even the friends I have who meticulously cut coupons can afford an occasional glass of wine or beer out. All that is to say, I have NO CLUE what it means to not have enough for food, and to not know if I'll ever have enough to provide for my basic biological needs.

Even when I started learning about poverty in Central Texas, it was in the form of numbers and statistics. For example, 48,000 people in Central Texas alone rely on food pantries to eat. Almost half of that number consists of children. These people regularly experience the physical pain of hunger and have to choose - on a weekly basis - between filling that hunger with food, or paying for utilities and shelter. That is heart-wrenching enough, but still it seems less real when the problem is so abstract. (More facts can be found here).

I arrived at the pantry this morning, prepared to help stock dozens of shelves with food they will distribute tomorrow. I was dismayed by how little food there was to stock. Apparently, the economy is hit hard right now, and people are giving the little resources they have to the victims of the Bastrop Fires. Which is great, since those victims have a real, immediate need. But what I didn't realize is there is a steady contingency of hungry people in Austin who are overlooked as a consequence.

This specific food pantry feeds about 140-180 people each week. We finished stocking, and I was shocked when the director looked at the few shelves lined with food and concluded with sadness "well at least we have enough to feed 130 people this week." How much food was she referring to? Let's just say my mother stocked more in our garage during the Y2K scare. Furthermore, the filled shelves could actually physically fit into my tiny Austin studio. The choices were canned corn, canned peas, cans of mixed fruit, canned peaches, applesauce, some potatoes and meat. That's it. This is what 130 people will survive on this week.

I drove home to a nice lunch of salmon and asparagus, and felt sick to my stomach knowing that tomorrow, 10-50 people less than a mile from me will find out they have nothing to eat this week. Yet here I am spending my money on pretty clothes, wine, fancy makeup, expensive haircuts...in short, things that are not crucial for survival. Now I'm not necessarily advocating denying yourself of any niceties and pleasures and giving all your money away; I realize that our economy is a much more complicated system than that. But it definitely gives me pause about the way I think about my money and how I spend it.

I'm not sure what to conclude about all this as this is an issue I'm still processing through. I will say I am glad I got involved with CAFB. And that although I do feel called to international ministry of some sort, I am beginning to see that the same brokenness and the same disparities exist next door to me, even in such an affluent city as Austin.