Loving a Broken World

One afternoon

One DART Station

One Invitation

One Action Meditation to benefit Aids Services of Dallas

One Good Friday brought forth:

250 Dollars

182 Razors

108 Flossers (Individual Use Dental Floss)

29 Toothpastes

20 Pairs of Socks

20 Bars of Soap

14 Deodorants

14 Toothbrushes

12 Rolls of Toilet Paper

10 Pairs of Underwear

10 Packages of Kleenex

2 Laundry Detergents

1 Electric Footwash

*The mission of ASD is to create and strengthen healthy communities through the delivery of quality, affordable, service-enriched housing for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS.

Together we reflect on those who are most vulnerable, stripped bare, & exposed in our contemporary society. And together we take one step, at one DART stop, to love our broken world back to life.

Guerilla Communion

The final stop on our DART Stations of the Cross journey included a speedy 3 minute and 7 second sharing of Communion.

Kristin explains why we've gathered at Mockingbird Station and what will happen during the DART Stations of the Cross.

This Is My Body

I must confess that Station 13 was the most moving meditation I experienced yesterday during DART Stations of the Cross. It called me back to my body from the 12 previous meditations that had turned me inward in reflection. Thank you Pastor Laura for reminding us that we are embodied souls.

The prevailing idea that masquerades as "spirituality" these days is that we are not our bodies; that we are ghosts in the machine, brains in a vat, souls trapped in flesh prisons. But the words of Pearl Buck's mother shattered that shallow theology when she responded to nurses who said her dead son's body was just a body and that he wasn't there anymore. She said, "But this body is the one that I carried in my body, and this body is the one that I gave birth to, and this body is the one that I fed with milk from my body... this body is my baby, this body is my son."

Indeed, what are we without our bodies? Without a body to encounter the world we do not know the world. Without a body against which the world can make contact we have no awareness of ourselves. Our bodies put us in touch with others and ourselves. Every sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch puts me in contact with the Other that is not-Me and it is in that encounter that I discover Me. My body also allows me to relate to others. I can see the faces of others and catch glimpses of their soul, listen to their stories , smell the world I have ignored in their clothes, taste their tears born of sorrow and joy, and touch their wounds. The ethical implications of remembering that we are embodied souls are profound.This Easter Sunday the words "this is my body, broken for you" will take on profoundly deeper meaning.

Reflections on the Stations

Not being of the churchy-poo ilk (oh wait, I'm a preacher's daughter, never mind) I tend to resist traditional boxes and spoon fed meaning. As we moved through the Stations of the Cross yesterday evening, I was filled with inexplicable emotion and chills upon reading the meditation associated with each station. Downright eerie how some of them fit...

The darkness of the Convention Center stop.
A more obvious poverty as we moved further south on the Red Line.
Tear-like dripping copper trails on some of the public art.
Rival graffitti wars on the sides of abandoned buildings.

And so we sit on Saturday.

DART stations of the cross: images to prepare the soul

DART LOGISTICS

(oh snap, that's us plannin' logistics.... photos by Rob's fancy pants phone)

The downloadable PDF is to the right in the links area. Print out and take with you. Along with your camera and journal.

Step 1: Park in the Mockingbird Station lot or designated DART parking.

Step 2: Bring three dollars (3USD per person) for your DART ticket.

Step 3: Go to the machine and buy a Local Day Pass. KEEP YOUR TICKET.

Step 4: Do the DART Stations of the Cross meditation. Remember, you must catch the 5:54PM train from Mockingbird ON THE RED LINE to participate in the "drop off" at 8th and Corinth and the 7 min Guerilla Good Friday Service at the Westmoreland Station.

Step 5: After the "service" - get back on the train and ride back to Mockingbird with the group with your original ticket back to Mockingbird and your car.

Trinity Hall is located in Mockingbird Station for those thirsty ones. How appropriate.