Statue of Liberty

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"

cries she ith silent lips.
"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

—Emma Lazarus, 1883

Last week, my professor spoke about the Statue of Liberty as she opened the first class of the semester. A couple of days later, Rae asked me to go see the Statue of Liberty and so I said yes right away because I never visit it, neither did I ever give it the appreciation it deserves. The Statue of Liberty is the monument that makes us who we are.

Here are some thoughts I want to remember about what we discussed in some classes the first couple of days:

• If you can't say it, pray it.
• Eph 4 -Walking in Unity- speaking the truth in love, we all have something to give to one another.
• Hurt people hurt people.
• We don't want to send bleeding people into the world with more bleeding people in the world.
• Replace things we are throwing out with good, develop new practices.
• We are going to take care of some people, not the world.
• We're cleaning the house in order to move into a new house.
• We are a whole garden of people.
• Learning the truth about yoruself and learning to deal with it.
• Look back to move forward.
• Revisiting open wounds and allowing them to heal.
• No shame, we're not here to make shame.
• In my convolescence and in my infirmities, we have to get up and move.
• Our core values are the same but our exterior is different.
• We have to change.
• Change requires effort and getting out of my comfort zone.
• Learning to be free.
• Look, look, look, look, even when you see blood.
• Jessie Jackson: "We never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up."
• "The idea that we are hepling ministers are to extend our hand to them and to help them stand."
• Einstein's definition of insanity: Engaging over and over again with the same behaviors but expecting different results.
• There are different functions people do in church but God does the healing and the increase.
• I'm not pessimistic, I'm just realistically hopeful.
• Show the model, give people something to follow.
• It is what it is until it's not.
• There's somebody that's assigned to your body.
• We're here to change the atmosphere and not be part of the atmosphere.
• Walk away from other people's view of you.
• We value their opinion, take responbility of your life and remove boundaries.
• What's going on for you is what's going on for you.
• If you are holding onto it, you are not making space for the new thing.
• Living life from God's point of view.
• God is not particularly concerned about your comfort but he cares about your development.
• I want you to go on a private shtu down or else I will shut you down permanently.

Many of these are just quotes that people said in class that I thought were worth keeping. >:]