Brennan HallSomething I’ve noticed over the last month or so is how important summer is in our year. I have always been a “love the first snow” kind of person. But when it’s still snowing in April, I quickly turn into the “when’s it going to end?” person.But Minnesota winters are what make our summers so amazing. We’ve earned them. We deserve them. Nothing beats a Minnesota summer. I’ve been thinking of that feeling a lot lately. Even though I am not in school anymore (be right back as I celebrate that feat once again…) I still have those same feelings moving into summer. Setting goals, recharging, and making time to relax and regroup after a long winter. In many ways, this year is no different. Our winter itself may not have been the most difficult Minnesota winter we’ve had recently, but it was one to remember. Living among a worldwide pandemic tends to alter our sense of normality. Events are cancelled, postponed, or changed to limit exposure to other people. Not to mention how contentious the proper way to protect yourself and others has become… (small plug to wear a mask as much as possible in public places and around other people). With everything that’s different, it’s hard not to reflect on past summers and the things we often take for granted.  Freckles (left), Sydney (middle), and Brennan (right) waiting for the 4th of July parade down the street in Cleveland. The 4th of July has always been a big holiday for my family. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and for decades my grandpa raised the flag every morning at the end of the street as you entered the gates to our community beach club on Lake Erie. No matter the weather or day, he would walk to the corner and raise the flag. During my grandpa’s last years before he passed our family moved in with him to help him live rather independently and not have to leave the home. Whenever someone asked why he raised the flag for so long, he would answer “for the men and women who didn’t make it home.” My dad continues the tradition of raising and lowering the flag every day. On the 4th of July, our family leads the community in the pledge of allegiance while raising the flag prior to a celebration at the beach. This 4th of July will be different. There won’t be big celebrations, parades, or fireworks. I wonder if that will allow ourselves a chance to take a step back and realize what is important about our country.  Brennan's dad (blue shirt) getting ready to raise the flag on the 4th of July, 2019. This 4th of July, I challenge us all to spend time with those we love, reflect on the historic time we are living in globally, nationally, and locally, and think of ways we can continue to make our nation a place for all people to celebrate and be free. I also want us to recognize that our experiences are different. We are always learning that our understanding of being free is different than our neighbors. We must actively work towards a place where all people feel included in our nation’s freedom. I say that as we remember the stonewall uprising of 1969 this week and the protests against racial injustice across our nation. We are all stronger together. The pandemic is still very much with us. I hope the 4th of July is able to convey a small bit of recharging to our summer. Spend time with family, fire up the grill, and think about what the 4th of July means for us as a community and country. If that thought is uncomfortable or not what you want it to be- I challenge you to wake up on July 5th and think of ways to start changing that.  Brennan's family during the 4th of July weekend, 2019.
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6/22/2020 0 Comments Twin Cities Stay-Cation ChecklistSaint Joan of Arc Peer MinistersOur Peer Minister's compiled a list of their favorite places to go in the Cities. Here's what they came up with! 1. Raspberry and Harriet Island- Saint Paul The award-winning Harriet Island Regional Park located on the Mississippi River, as well as Raspberry Island Regional Park, provides stunning views of downtown Saint Paul. 2. Bruce Vento Regional Trails
3. Hidden Falls Regional Park The park dates back to 1887, when it was selected by Horace Cleveland, a nationally known landscape architect and park planner, as one of four major park sites for the City of Saint Paul. 4. Como Park and Conservatory The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory and Como Park is full of trails, Como Lake, fields, pavilions, and trees to hammock. The Conservatory is officially open, by reservation, starting today! 5. Lake Nokomis and Lake Harriet Both lakes are great for swimming, boating, running, and just being with friends outside! 6. Kayak down Minnehaha Creek
7. Big Willow Trails
8. Lone Lake Park Located in the southeast corner of Minnetonka, Lone Lake Park features views of Lone Lake, including a 1.2-mile loop from the lower main parking lot that offers scenic views of the various ecological areas in the park, including wetlands, woodlands and prairies. 9. Minneapolis Farmers Market
10. Walk Across the Stone Arch Bridge
Have any places to add? Let us know in the comments!
Rose and BrennanThese words are adapted from a prayer service for teens and families. We condemn the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other black and brown people. When we say their names, we commit ourselves to honoring their memory through advocacy and action. We are called as Christians to stand with those on the margins, those who are being oppressed, those whom the system attacks and kills. We are called to speak out against the injustice of racism and white supremacy, systemic poverty, and institutionalized violence. When we stand for justice, we are not alone. We have many role models for this in our faith:
And yet, if we are being honest, we know the Church has not always lived up to its call to be a prophetic voice. And so I will remind all of you: we are the Church. We are the community of Christ. When we call for justice, when we demand everyone be treated with dignity and respect, when we proclaim that the life of George Floyd and every black person is sacred, we are claiming our birthright as agents of change. The murder of Mr. Floyd was the latest incident that reflects a legacy of racism in this country. How we choose to respond is our responsibility. As members of the Christian faith, our call is to bring God’s love to the world. This love is brought to life in care for our neighbors and community. It is brought to life when we demand accountability of those in positions of power. I want to remind all of you that you are loved by God, and called by God to love one another. In the days and weeks ahead, I encourage you to reflect on how you will choose to show that love to those around you. 6/1/2020 1 Comment Lean into Your DiscomfortBridgid OlkMillerBridgid is a Junior at Hopkins High School and a third year peer minister at Saint Joan of Arc. I want to preface my reflection by saying, it’s pretty chaotic but that’s just a reflection of how I’ve been feeling these past couple months and especially weeks, so bear with me. I think that in this time it’s really easy to get caught up in how much this all sucks and how different life is because of the pandemic and everything that has been piling on top of that. Especially this past week. Since I’m a junior I was lucky enough not to miss too many milestones of my school experience but it still is completely uprooting my world, which I’m realizing is smaller than I thought. And just as I was getting used to this new world, thinking it would be the worst it’s going to get, all the sudden there’s also giant killer bees, the sunspots are disappearing, trillions of cicadas are going to resurface and also there might be a parallel universe? And once I was getting used to all of that, the horrific killing of George Floyd took place, reminding me once again just how scary, unjust and unfair this world can be. And at first it all felt really overwhelming. This is not what I had planned for 2020. I turned 17 on May 24th and I had thought that when I turned 17, it would be my turn to be the dancing queen! Instead, I’m stuck at home, seeing my friends through a screen, and taking AP tests in my basement. When I talk to people about this situation, one of the things that they tell me is that they don’t really remember their junior year at all. And I get that what they’re trying to say, that missing out on these small things is not as bad as it seems right now. But the truth is, this is my whole world right now, school and the experiences that come with it is all that I know. High school is so much more than just the classes that I take and what I’m learning about. It’s more about the people that are constantly around me who are teaching me how to interact in different social situations and how to express myself and what it means to be in community with people that are so different from me. Losing all of that is much more than just losing out on a little bit of school. And yet everything seems to be so much less important with the events of this past week. I had the opportunity to attend a protest on Sunday and it was a surreal experience to go to my state capitol and see it surrounded by the national guard and other police officers that were fully armed and even had gas masks. It’s such a scary sight, but as my brother pointed out, that fear that I was feeling was nothing compared to the fear that people of color have been faced with for their whole lives. Driving around on our way we were able to see all the shops that had been boarded up and even buildings that had been burned that were still smoldering days later. Seeing the community destroyed like this made me really sad but I feel like as a white person that has never experienced any kind of oppression, it’s really hard for me to understand either side to its full extent. However it has made me feel better to hear that it seems public sentiment is more or less feeling the same things that I’m feeling, that it’s hurting the community to have essential things like grocery stores looted and burned down. Despite the news of so much negativity, there has also been very uplifting news about how many people are going into Minneapolis and Saint Paul to help clean up the damages and to collect food for the people that had lost their sources for food and other products. Also, especially Sunday night, I’ve been hearing more from the protestors that are peaceful and hearing them express how their only mission is to continue to call for justice for George Floyd and other people that were hurt by police brutality and that they didn’t want any kind of altercations with the police. They continued this mission even when they were surrounded and arrested.  When I went to the protest today, my family stopped by 38th and Chicago, the place where George Floyd died, on the way there. That was a really intense place to be, but it was intense in a good way. There were many people there but everyone was really somber and wanted to pay respects to George more than anything. There were so many flowers around and murals and signs that made it all so special. But at the same time, it was really hard for me to be standing in the same place that another man lost his life in an extremely unjust way. This man was a father and a son and a kind man and what hits me the most is that his death was completely preventable and should not have happened. Especially when he was killed by people that we are supposed to be able to trust with our lives and our safety. When this fact is getting called out and these same police officers and national guard and sheriffs are getting called to intimidate people that are protesting this cruelty, it makes me realize what people of color have been confronted with for a long time, which is that if we can’t trust the police, who is keeping us safe? It feels so scary to be in a place where I don’t know what authority will be able to protect all of us equally when the system that was set up to do just that is completely failing us.
Some people I’ve been talking to have suggested that we need to completely disband the police and create a new system. At first, this sounded really extreme to me, but the more that I am hearing about, the more I realize that the change that needs to come might not be something that we feel comfortable hearing. But if we’re comfortable, we can’t grow! So something that I have been focusing on is trying to lean into my discomfort and figure out why I’m feeling this way. Especially when it comes to my own biases and assumptions that I make, I find that calling myself out on that has been really helpful for me. So my challenge to everyone for the future is to lean into what makes you uncomfortable. Figure out why, and you might learn something about yourself that you had never considered. Because we need everyone to be moving forward with an open mind and ready to listen, collaborate and create change. |
The JourneyOur youth at SJA have amazing things to say. Our goal is to give them a platform to share their thoughts on topics they want to talk about. Their thoughts are uniquely theirs. From politics to faith, school issues to our church, this blog shares their voices with our community. Archives
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