SPRINGTIME IN NYC

Yes, indeed! even the subway is getting into the spirit. Every workday, I ride the shuttle subway between Times Square and Grand Central Station, and they are getting decked out for spring and summer. One car has a toad painted on the outside (painted to look like a frog--but I know the difference); the inside is decorated to make you think you are sitting beside a frog pond. The second car has a tree on the outside, with a forest inside (except that the trees are pines and the branches overhead are deciduous trees--don't they have any biologists on their staff?). The third is my favorite: butterflies on the outside, and on the inside you're sitting in a grassy field of daisies with blue skies overhead. Makes you more cheerful about being underground on a nice day.

My real spring celebration was yesterday at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, where the cherry blossoms were at their peak. They are supposed to have one of the largest collection of Japanese cherry trees anywhere outside of Japan. There was a celebration of Japanese culture going on, with dancing, music, and crafts (they tried unsuccessfully to lure me into making Origami peace cranes). Oh, and the LILACS were all blooming, but I finally gave up on trying to smell every one of them. I allowed myself a little nostalgic visit to the desert conservatory, and sweated my way through a nice tropical collection...and even found a couple of dirt paths to walk on. They had the best Bonsai collection I have ever seen, with artistic little trees of many varieties, one a couple of feet tall and documented as over 300 years old.

Not to speak of "old" but definitely speaking of blossoms, the other spring beauty in the picture with me is my "New York" cousin Sharon (from my Dad's side of the family)...we are the same age but she has always been the more glamorous of the two of us. We had a great visit in a little cafe in Bryant Park, next to the big Public Library downtown.

The only thing that makes me think it's not spring here is that we're not having tornados; it sounds like the rest of the country is making up for that...what a year! An increase in the frequency and severity of violent storms is a predicted outcome of climate change--so here at the UN we are doing what we can about those storms. It will take a long time though, even if we start right now. So we have to start right now. Here at number 204 we are praying for all who lost their lives or lost loved ones... You all be safe, and enjoy every blossom that comes your way.

THE BIG PUSH

My boss Catherine is gone for a few days, but that does not mean the "mice" are playing! We're working on flyers and drafting a letter to the Ecuadoran Ambassador to see if he will participate in a side event that UNANIMA is sponsoring next week at the Commission on Sustainable Development--CSD. (Will tell you more about this later--it's the reason that UNANIMA sponsored me for an extra month).

Side Events are educational events that feature a theme that someone (usually an NGO) is trying to push. I think I told you that the Commission on the Status of Women featured hundreds of side events. So you see, regardless of what's going on in the main meetings, the "side shows" are very interesting and worthwhile.

Actually we are doing TWO side events: one on "fracking"--a controversial way of extracting natural gas from shale deposits. In states like Colorado and Pennsylvania, where they've done a lot of fracking, whole herds of cattle have died from drinking water contaminated by the chemicals used, and people can actually light the water coming out of their taps (see picture).

The other side event is on "The RIGHT Green Economy." The topic Green Economy is generating tons of words at the UN, as we prepare for the Rio+20 conference next year, and it certainly relates to the conversations coming up in the CSD. A "Green" Economy is one that stays within the bounds of the planet's resources, and links its decisions to both social and environmental needs. It is an economy that does not favor one political perspective over another. It can't be just a "greenwash" over Business As Usual, so it will require a new way of thinking, strong leadership, and education of the public to adopt new lifestyles, new patterns of production and consumption. Our side event is going to feature some people we know have some interesting perspectives on this, including the Ecuadoran Ambassador. Your prayers for the success of our events will be appreciated!

Easter is a season of joy!

Easter joy lingers, in fact for 50 days, we rejoice in this hopeful season. Why is it that worries like the quickly approaching flood waters get center stage? Why is joy a neglected part of our days? My days are filled with complaints and beseeching of God's help when things don't go my way. How do I discover and hold on to a balance in my day? One way that someone suggested is to nurture a spirit of gladness, end each day with a moment of remembrance. Each day before closing your eyes for rest, look back over the day that is ending. No matter how troublesome the day may have been, recover and grasp a taste of joy by asking, "What is one thing in this day for which I can rejoice?"

I hope that you are not like me in that sometimes I discover in remembrance that I missed the day's joyful moments because I was overly focused on just one thing that didn't go as I planned.

May we never let a day go by without glimpsing a touch of joy and rejoicing in God's goodness. Alleluia!

MORE NYC WEEKENDS

The clock is ticking down, the calender moves toward May 14, the day of my return to Kentucky, so I'd better see everything on my list. High on any former biology teacher's list would be the exhibit BODIES. Many are horrified at the thought of going to an exhibit of dissected humans and human parts, but it was beautifully done and respectfully displayed. This is not a morbid experience, and there were no snickers from the teenagers. Every system of the body is explored, with emphasis on the elegance of form and function, and on health. Life-like poses displayed the layers and layers of interacting muscle, ligaments, bone, nerves, and blood vessels. There was one display that showed all the ways orthopedic surgeons can put us back together, with pins, screws, plates, rods, and artificial joints. In the respiratory system exhibit, there was a display of a smoker's lung with a big bin of cigarette packs and a sign -- "throw in your cigarettes and kick the habit!" My very favorites were the preparations that showed all the tiny blood vessels of the kidney and placenta...this is really ART, as well as science. As I walked home I thought of all those little bones in my foot, acting as little levers, and then locking when I stand still. "I thank You that I am fearfully, wonderfully made!"

My sidekick, Sister Jan, left on Palm Sunday (I still feel like I have forgotten something when I get on the subway alone!) The day before that we had time for one last adventure, and I let her pick it out. Our Ursuline New York native, Sister Nancy, always asked me if I had seen The Cloisters when I went to NYC for meetings; well, this time I did. The Cloisters is a medieval monastery with cloisters, chapels, chapter room and courtyard gardens, all brought over stone by stone from various European monasteries, mostly in France and Spain. It houses the Metropolitan Art Museum's Medieval Art exhibits, and is set in a park on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. John D. Rockefeller donated the land, thoughtfully adding a good sized chunk on the opposite New Jersey shore, so nobody could ruin the view by building a McDonalds or Walmart. It was a lovely collection--a real religious experience.

And going from the sublime to the ridiculous: on the way there, we had to walk several blocks to change buses. As we walked by a Dunkin' Donuts shop, a naked (i.e. no feathers) live chicken ran out of the store, to the delight of passersby, who cheered for the chicken. Do you suppose this is related to the fact that Dunkin' D is advertising "fresh chicken sandwiches?" ( I think it must have wandered in from the ethnic grocery shop next door.) NYC is full of surprises!

And in case you have been wondering about the escaped cobra, she was found in the Reptile House only about 100 feet from her cage. Now, from being a humble young teenage cobra kept in a back room, she has become a celebrity, on special exhibit at the zoo...and she has a name. From tens of thousands of submissions, "Mia" was chosen, for "Missing In Action." One of the runner-up names was "Cleopatra," so my entry of "Cleo" was not too far off base. And that's the latest update on wildlife in NYC...

SIDE SHOWS, U.N. STYLE

Besides the programs, panels, films, and speakers over in the meeting rooms, there are always other things going on in the lobby of the public part of the U.N. building. The other day, in front of the lovely blue Chagall stained glass window in the lobby, there was a memorial service for the 44 United Nations staff members killed in various parts of the world over a period of just 10 days recently. It really reminded us that there are two United Nations--the one in New York where all the talking goes on, and the one out there "on the ground," keeping peace, bringing food, medicine, and school supplies, training teachers...and being vulnerable in the hot spots of the world. Well, I take that back: there are actually THREE U.N.s--there's a headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland also, where there is less talk and more work (they are very focused there on getting tasks done, and have less need for national posturing).

There is always some art or artifact exhibit in the lobby as well: a beautiful photography exhibit of pictures from Antarctica; one on the Holocaust that featured the writings of a very "Anne Frank" type of girl; a very moving combination of pictures, poetry, historical artifacts, and art on the topic of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade; and a sobering art and artifact exhibit that featured land mines--what they do to people, what they look like (they had "land mines" embedded in the floor that I actually hesitated to step on), and what the U.N. is doing about them.

But last week was the most unique: a "living culture" exhibit featuring the New Zealand Rugby Team. They did a very intimidating haka, or Maori war dance, and sang the New Zealand anthem. General Secretary Ban Ki Moon spoke to them, and (commenting on his own small stature) said that he would never be able to be a Prop, a Front Line Forward, or (regretfully) "or even a Hooker." He brought down the house.

Happy Holy Week to all, and in case I don't write again until the weekend, Happy Easter! I hope to see some LANDSCAPE over the weekend--hence the picture.

SMORGASBORD WEEKS

These past two weeks have not had a single "theme," but have offered a real smorgasbord of interesting things--pretty typical of some of the topics the U.N. deals with. While the Security Council has been meeting every day on topics like Libya, the Ivory Coast, and Sudan, other U.N. and NGO groups have been immersed in other topics.

Just in the past two weeks, I've been to sessions on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, Decent Work in the Least Developed Countries, The Rule of Law in Violent Situations, and a Commission on Population and Development; have attended U.N. special events noting Autism Week, HIV/ AIDS, and World Health Week (with a whole day on Psychology and Education); and attended committee meetings on Mining and Indigenous People, Trafficking, a UNICEF meeting on children with HIV/ AIDS, a committee on Sustainable Development, a working group on Climate Change, a meeting of RUN (Religious at the U.N.) and attended educational film / discussion sessions on fracking and on the future of nuclear energy.

Now, either you are REALLY envious or else bored out of your skull at the very thought of all this...so I will end by telling you about what the two weekends were like! Two weeks ago we went to the Museum of Modern Art, to see a special exhibit on women's photography...and then I worked all the next day on minutes, reports... This last weekend Jessica (our Executive Assistant) gave us a walking tour of a tiny piece of Brooklyn. My favorite parts were the chocolate factory and the little park with a great view of the Manhattan skyline. We ended at the Highline Park, an old elevated railroad bed in downtown Manhattan,which has been recycled into what is probably the longest and skinniest city park anywhere. Beneath the place where a bridge goes over the park there is an "auditory sculpture" where every minute some different kind of bell rings--bicycle, fire, church--and on the hour, all 60 ring out at once, in a symphony of city sounds.

The next day we went to Macy's to see the spring flower show. We agreed that from now on if we want to see flowers we will go to the Botanical Garden...too many people at Macy's!

You weren't worried about my getting bored, were you?

Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus, a friend, dead, buried and demanded, "Take the stone away!"

Many are the names of deadness in each of us. Many are the risings that need to take place. Today, I ask that the Risen Voice resurrect in me the deadness that needs to be raised up. Resurrect in me all that lies in deadness and give it an entrance into light. Push back the stone and restore my Spirit and become the Center of all I am and all I do.