Swarthmore Peripateo (Vol 2, Issue 2)

Volume 2, Issue 2 | Spring 2014

Peripateo the Swarthmore College Journal of Christian Discourse

Featuring:

FOLLOWING CHRIST HOME

by Kathryn Wu

Also in this issue:

mercy of the womb

by Erin Kast

continuum

by George Abraham

A Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, At Swarthmore, it is all too easy not to think about God. Heavy workloads and a few too many outside commitments narrow our vision to the realities of the physical present. We have all experienced these times. Days, even weeks, fly by, during which our thoughts are endlessly consumed by the next pressing obligation. Thoughts of God at such times can easily get pushed to the side.

It is especially when life is bearing down on us, however, that questions concerning God ought to occupy the forefront of our minds. Whether or not we believe He exists, our stance towards God is relevant in all things. It informs our most fundamental assumptions. It dictates our conceptions of hope, love, truth, reason, morality, and purpose. Even if only subconsciously, it shapes the things we do, along with why and how we do them.

We, therefore, ought to be actively thinking about God. To do otherwise, I suggest, would involve an active dismissal of eternally relevant and immediately influential questions: Who exactly is God? Does He truly exist? What can we know of His character? What role does He play in our lives?

We, the staff of Peripateo, in grappling with these questions, have come to believe that God has been made known to us through the historical man of Jesus Christ. Because of this, we believe Jesus’ claims about himself. We believe that Jesus, eternal Son of God, became a man out of purest love, giving himself up as a perfect sacrifice on our behalf. We believe that Jesus died, bearing the full penalty of human sin, and rose, providing the hope of new life to all.

In this hope, we, the staff of Peripateo, have gathered together. Despite coming from a plurality of Christian traditions, we are united by our shared conviction in the endless relevance of Jesus Christ. It is out of this conviction that we endeavor to thoughtfully and creatively articulate Christian perspectives within the Swarthmore community.

We hope that you will join with us as we engage, in various ways, with different aspects of God’s influence in our lives. In this issue, we explore everything from the sacrificial love between daughter and mother in “Following Christ Home”, to a Catholic perspective on capitalism in “Subsidairity, Solidarity, Social Teaching: A Catholic Perspective to Political Economy.” We invite you to contemplate perspectives of listening in Nathan Scalise’s “Leaving Space to Listen,” mercy in Erin Kast’s “Mercy of the Womb,” and happiness in Christina Keller’s “Christianity and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We hope you will allow these ideas to both complicate and compliment your own.

In keeping with the meaning of the Greek word “Peripateo,” take some time to “walk around in” the words and images put forth on these pages. Then pause and rest; wait a moment, and sit with these ideas. We, in this third issue of Peripateo, are excited to explore these ideas right along with you.

Michael Superdock Editor-in-Chief

1 | Letter from the Editor

Cover and inside cover photos by Sam Gutierrez ’15

Peripateo

the Swarthmore College Journal of Christian Discourse

IN THIS ISSUE Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Social Teaching: A Catholic Perspective to Political Economy

7

Essays & Ar ticles

by Nicholas Zahorodny

Mercy of the Womb 23

by Erin Kast

Christianity and the Pursuit of 29 Happiness

by Christina Keller

Smeared Mascara and Baby Steps

3

Reflections

by Pauline Goodson

Following Christ Home 15

by Kathr yn Wu

Making Peace with My 19 Worst Enemy

Editorial Staff Michael Superdock ’15 Meghan Huang ’14 Kathryn Wu ’14 Roy Walker ’16 Josh Gregory ’15 Carlo Bruno ’17 Christina Keller ’14 Nancy Yeon-Joo Kim ’14 Nate Lamb ’17 Nathan Scalise ’16 Nicholas Zahorodny ’16 Shirley Ramirez ’14 Heitor Santos ’17 Josselyn Tufino ’14 Patrick Han ’16 Sam Gutierrez ’15 Renan Meira ’17

Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor Design Manager Business Manager Poetry Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Design Design Design Business Photography Photography

by Zoë Wray

Leaving Space to Listen 33

by Nathan Scalise

Continuum

5

La Iglesia de San Pedro

17

by George Abraham

by Nancy Yeon-Joo Kim

Ar t & Poetry

Knobs 21

by Sam Gutierrez

Pendle Hill 28

by Josh Gregor y

Haiku

by Dorothy Kim

9, 23, 32, 35

Who We Are Peripateo seeks to reconcile faith and academia by engaging religious issues through an intellectual

lens. We believe that the message of Jesus Christ has powerful implications for our daily lives and the world at large. We aim to fuse creativity and

intellectualism in this journal to invite readers into a thoughtful discourse: what role does God play in our lives? What are the ways that a Christian

perspective both compliments and complicates an academic one?

Contact us at swarthmoreperipateo@gmail.com

Swarthmore Peripateo | 2

Smeared Mascara and

Baby Steps

by Pauline Goodson

http://tinyurl.com/n4bdvrl

I have two younger sisters. The middle sis-

was about the extent of my belief until high school, when ter is calm, shies away from conflict, and usually doesn’t a friend encouraged me to go to church with her. Howcare much about something if it doesn’t concern her. The ever, there was no dramatic transformation in me. I deyoungest is hot-headed, unpredictable, and self-centered. liberately ignored what I considered to be the behavioral One minute, she’s angry and rude; the next (literally, the demands of God in favor of the pursuit of my own desires. next minute), she’s sweet and funny. I often became upset But despite my unwillingness to completely commit to a with her, mainly because she showed no gratitude for our Christian lifestyle, I began checking myself and asking if parents, who are so good to us and have done everything using fire against fire was really the best way to interact possible to provide us with the lives they’d always want- with my sister.

At first, I would physically shake with unexpressed ed for us. The years before I knew God, I would retaliate anger and unshed whenever she angered tears trying to restrain me. Yelling, cursing, myself from hurting smearing her makeup I think I was too caught up in the baby steps her emotionally and on her door, threatening to hit her…once, and my obvious missteps to notice how He physically. Alone in my room, I would cry, I had even started to was working outside of my awareness. mad at God for holdchoke her before realing such high stanizing what I was doing. dards and upset with This wasn’t one-sided, Him for making me feel guilty when I considered revertand a few times I was the one being attacked, with hands suddenly wrapped around my neck. For the most part, I ing to the behavior of my former self. In time, I found wanted nothing to do with her, and I made sure she knew that my emotions would need to change if I wanted to improve things with my sister. I tried to express my it.

Things continued like this well into my adolescence, disapproval in a more level-headed way, tried to ignore until I started believing in a higher power. I had always her when words seemed inadequate, tried to remain sibelieved in a single God — the God of Jesus — but that lent when I knew she was provoking me. I wasn’t perfect.

Sometimes I’d yell, curse at her, often telling myself that

3 | Smeared Mascara and Baby Steps

when she suddenly became apologetic, I wouldn’t forgive her. But knowing that forgiveness was essential to showing God my faithfulness, I let it go and waited for the next time she would inspire intensely negative feelings within me. That waiting definitely wasn’t forgiveness, but it was as close as I could get myself to forgiveness at the time.

This trial-and-error approach went on for so long that I didn’t even notice that my relationship with her had slowly been changing alongside my relationship with God. During this period, I had become more serious and committed to my faith. Gradually, I discovered sincere joy and gratitude in serving a being whose love was insurmountable and unsurpassable, someone who could accept my faults and my tears, who was patient and had hope for me, and who had lovingly given grace to those unworthy of it. My eagerness to serve God, however, didn’t mean that I was at all perfect in making changes with my sister.

I think I was too caught up in the baby steps and my obvious missteps to notice how He was working outside of my awareness. I now believe that as I learned more and more about the nature of God, it became easier for me to be more patient with my sister, to let my guard down and not expect the worst, and to both forgive and forget when things got rocky.

I went home one break and realized that in an entire month, my sister and I had argued only once and eas-

ily reconciled immediately after. At the end of the break, when I was helping her write her college essays, she told me she had already started writing one…about me. This was the first time she had made me cry tears of thankfulness and love. She wrote of how she was amazed by my optimism, my ability to hold my head high and sincerely find the blessings in what I had. She saw a role model in me, no longer just in academics, but in who I had become.

It dawned on me that while I was trying to change for her, she was trying to change for me as well. All those times that I felt frustrated, restrained, and helpless were worth everything, and looking back, I would never exchange those moments for easier alternatives. If I had given up on God, on what I felt would make me better in His eyes and better for others, I would have given up on my sister.

By trusting in God, I was given the chance to learn just how kind and loving my sister really is and how great it is to be loved by her. r

Pauline Goodson ’14 Pauline doesn’t know why she does what she does but she thinks it has something to do with her brain. That’s why it’s really helpful having God guide her throughout it all.

Swarthmore Peripateo | 4

Continuum

by George Abraham

My Math teacher once told me, the English language is not rigorous enough for definitions; he says definitions have to go back to equations, and isn’t it funny how equations can say so much, but nothing at all?

Isn’t it funny how letters on a computer screen are Coded sequences of 1’s and 0’s — How “love,” translates to 01101100011011110111011001100101 you won the keys to my hear t, now let me give you the gift of encoded emotion, ranging all over an infinite continuum; but isn’t it funny, how discrete language can be?

Pssst. Let me tell you a secret:

Photo by Sam Gutierrez ’15

We can never know infinity.

Whether it diverges like the dreams of a vagrant, Or converges like two hear ts resonating at a Unified frequency; I believe in a God that promises eternal life, But has anyone ever stopped to think about how scary that sounds?

We’re yearning for forever despite that we can never understand it; Just as the turn of a page Can turn a cross upside down, We confuse fish, symbols of Christ, with infinity; He is alpha omega, beginning and end, But what is an end if it’s not defined — Is our existence nothing but an infinite loop of confusion?

I never realized that God spoke in algorithms — Perhaps, we were born to die.

5 | Continuum

Perhaps there’s beauty in ephemerality.

There’s a cer tain beauty in the fact that Every time the sun sets, a night begins; That every star dissipates for another to shine brighter ; There are people who question if there is purpose in existence, If existence is ephemeral; Do you mean to tell me it wasn’t purpose That made razor blades drop from Hands above wrists craving a sinister end To this infinite masterpiece?

That purpose didn’t guide Ludwig’s fingers down ivory keys creating that which he could no longer hear?

That purpose isn’t the force of attraction between aged, fragile hands on deathbeds, with rusted rings on four th fingers?

It’s odd, that sometimes we forget about that pulsating organ squeezed between our ribcages and our lungs; It’s odd, how time is ephemeral, yet we can get endlessly lost in it — but wandering in circular motions for too long is not healthy; My math teacher once told me the only thing that differentiates circles and curves of infinite length is closure —

closure.

Closure exists;

Purpose exists.

Some of us just haven’t defined it yet.

Watch George perform this poem at: http://youtu.be/OC7RzVqe5pg

Swarthmore Peripateo | 6

Photo by Nancy Kim ‘14

Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Social Teaching:

A Catholic Perspective

on Political Economy

by Nicholas Zahorodny From the first cry of “Habemus papem!”1

almost one year ago, Pope Francis, the succesor of St. Peter and leader of the world’s over one billion Catholics, has charmed the world with a ministry of humility and compassion. Noticing at first his decision to withdraw from the papal apartments and to dress simply, the roving eye of the media has since fastened upon his washing of the feet of those in prison, his embrace of the physically deformed, and his special pastoral attention to the poor. Such coverage is valuable in that it highlights the labors of a man who has laid down all his heart, all his soul, and all his strength in obedience to God and in service to the Church.2 The value of this coverage wanes, however, as it seeks, on account of its preoccupation with novelty, to invest the current papacy with radical qualities that it does not possess. Such presentations, which describe Pope Francis primarily in contrast to those that preceded him, isolate his papacy from the richness and the majesty of the Church tradition. They depict the fruit of thousands of years as the harvest of a mere moment, ineffectually compressing profound, and often difficult, truths into six-word headlines or two-second soundbites. It is a process that results in confusion and uncertainty even amongst those with a genuine openness to Catholic thought.

For this reason, Francis’ most recent papal exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, has suffered from superficial treatment and widespread misunderstanding. I refer specifically to its most controversial section, “Among the Crisis of Communal Commitment.” Here, the Pope denounces a culture obsessed with money, a culture in which the “sacralized workings of the market” have eclipsed the sanctity of the human person.3 In a statement echoed by President Obama, Francis laments the condition of a socioeconomic order in which “it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is

7 | Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Social Teaching: a Catholic Perspective to Political Economy

news when the stock market loses two points.”4 Certainly, such statements form a major part of Francis’ exhortation, and yet only seldom does popular media offer its audience much more, save for insinuations, as vacuous as they are ubiquitous, that the new papacy will herald some suitably progressive “change” in Church doctrine.

As a result, many larger questions are unresolved.

To what extent has Pope Francis broken away from his predecessors? Does a Marxist Pope sit in Rome?

In answer to this first question, consider a quote that sounds suspiciously Francis-esque: “It is alarming to see the hotbed of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor, by the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism.”5 It might surprise some to learn that these words were spoken, on World Peace Day 2013, by Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. If Benedict counts as too recent to dispel beliefs in an impending revolution of Catholic social thought, consider the words of Pope Leo XIII, who wrote in 1891, “By degrees it has come to pass that working men have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition.”6 These words suggest that criticism of unregulated market forces has remained a constant in the perspective of the Church. But I would not, like so many in popular media, expect readers to be satisfied with or convinced by a few decontextualized quotes. A desire to understand the comprehensive groundwork of such admonishments, as well as their scope and implications, will motivate our investigation.

In this article, then, I will begin by examining the Church’s understanding of property rights. From there, I will expand the scope of inquiry to encompass the twin pillars of the Church’s economic teaching: the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. Having accomplished this much, perhaps we will have moved closer to understanding the most underappreciated line of Pope Francis’ entire exhortation, namely, “I take for granted the different analyses which other documents of the universal magisterium7 have offered, as well as those proposed by the regional and national conferences of bishops.”8 As with any comprehensive economic philosophy, the Church’s social doctrine has, over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, offered a careful account of the proper scope of the individual’s right to private property. And because the magisterial analysis of more complex topics rests implicitly upon the answers to such questions, it is here that prudence dictates our investigation begins. Pope Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical9 Rerum Novarum marked

a milestone in the development of the Church’s economic teaching, claimed that a right to private property arises, in the most general sense, as an outgrowth of man’s essentially rational nature. Man’s intellective powers, which set him apart categorically from all other living creatures, render him the sort of being fit to hold things in “permanent and stable possession.”10 If, borrowing from Aquinas, reason consists, at least in part, of the ordering of one’s actions to some final end, or telos, then an important part of man’s activity as a rational being necessarily finds its expression in his formulation of plans for the future.11 Consider one good perfective of man’s natural capacities: the good of knowledge. Right reason not only identifies knowledge of the truth as a form of human flourishing, but it also allows man to develop a plan of action in pursuit of this end. One might, for example, plan to enroll in a university with the further aim of attending classes and studying the assigned texts. Because the pursuit of final ends, such as knowledge of the truth, represents an enduring project rather than an ephemeral desire, man naturally projects his vision into the future, deliberating and ultimately deciding upon a reasoned course of action.

Furthermore, a little reflection will convince one that the flourishing of a human life depends upon this sustained striving towards substantive final ends, such as health, friendship, and closeness with God more than the satisfaction of passing desires. In order to provide for the sustenance of his own life and for the free pursuit of the final goods naturally perfective of that life, man must possess a certain sphere of permanence, stability, and control, within the context of which it becomes possible for him to engage in meaningful planning and action.12 The inviolability of a general, though not necessarily unrestricted, right to private property serves as the foundation of just such a space. As later affirmed by the Second Vatican Council, “Private property or some ownership of external goods affords each person the scope needed for personal and family autonomy.”13 To deny an individual the right to private property, therefore, would be to render him incapable of pursuing his integral fulfillment in the way appropriate to him as an inherently rational being.

At this point, one might object on the grounds that the benevolence of a centralized, high-functioning State could, through wise socioeconomic calculation, create this sphere itself, obviating the need for private property. Vested with suitable powers, it would claim ultimate control over all property, or at least all productive property, bending the economic activity of its members to satisfy some enlightened vision of human progress. In

Swarthmore Peripateo | 8

Photo by Josselyn Tufino ‘14

the remaining space, man could of mankind. Rather, God’s Wait until the day pursue his personal ends, availing gift requires “a particular I have silver and barley himself of the state-sanctioned human response,” namely the summon me by name use of resources but not their application of man’s strength ownership. Thus, the whole and perseverance, his intellect, would prosper through the State’s and his will.18 Labor, by no

by Dorothy Kim coordination of its parts. Under means unnatural, then, to this maestro State, the right to humankind, transforms the private property, and perhaps a earth, rendering that which few other rights as well, would be was once merely potential an irrelevant, if not flatly antithetical, to the common good. actual source of sustenance, even comfort. Such a process Whether or not a State with the capacity for such intimately involves a man in the object of his labor, and calculation could exist in practice, I leave to more thus, in his toils, he “leaves the impress of his personality” knowledgeable economists and political scientists. Papal upon it.19 Man changes the object of his labor so that it encyclicals beginning with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, reflects the joint working of his reason and his will; in however, argue that even a hyper-competent State should this way, he acquires ownership rights, strong but in no be constrained to respect certain spheres of personal sense absolute, over it. Such ownership, encouraged and freedom. Because the individual and the family exist prior proliferated amongst all people, accords fully with the to the State “in idea as in fact” they possess the right and doctrine of universal destination. responsibility independent of the State to provide for Most, however, will find a general right to private their own sustenance and basic needs.14 To the extent property relatively uncontroversial. A wide variety of that the State usurps, rather than supports, its members stark divisions tend to arise instead around questions in this fundamental role, it reaches beyond the bounds of that examine the nature of social justice and the proper its rightful authority, interfering inappropriately in their role of the State in regulating economic affairs. Rather lives. Because the stability requisite for the continuous than render prudential judgments on specific economic fulfillment of man’s naturally recurring needs as well policies, the responsibility for settling empirical disputes as for his planning for the future presupposes some belonging to the laity, the Church seeks to elevate discourse general, though not necessarily unrestricted, right to on pressing socio-economic issues by promulgating private property, the State cannot justly abrogate these Christian principles of action and judgment.20 One such rights in favor of pursuing its own designs, however principle that has proven invaluable to the strength and well-intentioned. Such analysis is an application of the coherence of the Church’s social teaching over the last one principle of subsidiarity, a key part of Church doctrine hundred and fifty years is the often-overlooked principle that will be explored in greater generality later in this of subsidiarity. essay.

The principle of subsidiarity states, “A Some might wonder, even accepting the above community of higher order should not interfere argument, about the consistency of private property rights in the internal life of a community of a lower order, with the “universal destination of earth’s goods.”15 For in depriving the latter of its functions, but rather Genesis 1:28, God says, “Increase and multiply, fill the should support it in case of need and help to earth and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and coordinate its activity with the activities of the the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon rest of society, always with a view to the common the Earth.”16 Creation is a gift to the whole of humanity, good.”21 The essential conception here is one of not merely to any single person or community. Private a dynamically layered body politic in which the property rights, one might object, fail to acknowledge the lower-level entities that together constitute universal generosity of this bequeathal. higher-level institutions possess rights and Certainly, the Church affirms the bounty of creation, responsibilities prior to those of the a bounty arising from the infinite love of God. Of such organizations in which they abundance Leo XIII writes, “God has granted the earth to participate. This priority of mankind in general […] No part of it was assigned to any rights and responsibilities one in particular.”17 However, the earth does not simply stems from an existential yield up boundless resources at a mere whim priority “both in idea as

9 | Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Social Teaching: A Catholic Perspective to Political Economy

in fact” of lower-level groups such that, for example, the justification for a comprehensive welfare state in which family precedes intermediate organizations, which in turn the federal government presides over vast redistributive precede the State.22 Priority in “idea” means that higher- programs. Given the principle of subsidiarity, however, level groups exist for the sake of lower-level groups rather such an interpretation screams implausibility. Subsidiarity, than the lower for the higher. Priority in “fact” means that as one might imagine, demands a much less top-heavy the lower groups constitute higher groups. solution, such as the one advocated by Pope John Paul The intermediate organizations referred to above might II in his encyclical Centissimus Annis. In this encyclical, include trade unions, religious groups, and voluntary John Paul II is unambiguously critical of the “Welfare aid societies. They do not hold the distant, coercive State.” A State that has empowered itself to undertake the power of the State but are composed of a community’s tremendous levels of economic intervention necessary to local members and are capable of ministering to that build up a comprehensive welfare state, he claims, “leads community in a direct and intimate way. When a broader to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of organization attempts to appropriate for itself duties whose public agencies.”24 Such large-scale federal control would fulfillment is the natural object of lower-level societies, also foreseeably result in a ballooning of the bureaucratic then that organization machine, one has failed to respect manifestly unsuited We are called to act, to the extent possible their autonomy and to the flourishing of 23 given our socioeconomic situation, in sympatheir rights. Thus, fraternal sentiment in the example of thy and fraternity, in solidarity with the poor. in civil society. Much private property more than the raw mentioned above, the data of a distant State cannot justly withhold from the individual those State, “[human] needs are best understood and satisfied by rightful powers and instruments by means of which he people who are closest to them and who act as neighbors satisfies an obligation to provide for his own sustenance. to those in need.”25 Although there does, in some sense, Alternatively, consider the right and duty, under anything exist a right to work, it must be kept in mind that the resembling normal circumstances, of parents to provide State does not and cannot exist as the guarantor of each for the healthy physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth and every right. In fact, direct efforts on the part of the of their children. The State should support parents by State to assure this right in every possible circumstance, cultivating a sociocultural environment conducive to the independent of lower bodies and organizations, could rearing of children. Once the State attempts to replace the only be successful through an untenable constriction of parents, however, or to infringe upon their autonomy in individual freedom.26 fulfilling their fundamental duties toward their children, All these negative consequences flow from the welfare for example, by mandating enrollment in exclusively state’s breach of the principle of subsidiarity. The “primary State-run schools, then it has overstepped its rightful responsibility” for ensuring the proper functioning of bounds, even if it does so with benevolent intentions. human activity in the economic sphere rests not with the According to the principle of subsidiarity the State only State but with the plurality of lower-level institutions, acts justly, and the body politic only truly flourishes, when organizations, and communities that comprise the the autonomy of all levels of society enjoys proper body politic as a whole. Instead of directing its focus respect. toward micromanagement of the economic system, the Subsidiarity’s relevance to economic affairs State’s duty is to “sustain business activities by creating is likely already apparent, especially given conditions which will ensure job opportunities.”27 In contemporary debates on the role of the State this way, the State plays a supportive role, maintaining in alleviating the poverty denounced by a framework in which the autonomous initiative of Evangelii Gaudium. Francis’ remarks lower-level actors can shape and build society in a therein have been interpreted by some as dy namic

Swarthmore Peripateo | 10

way, from the bottom up. Thus, the body politic grows States Catholic Bishops write, “A fundamental moral organically with the full participation of all its members. measure of any economy is how the poor and vulnerable Does subsidiarity translate into broad justification are faring.”30 In Centesimus Annus, John Paul laments for laissez-faire policies aimed at separating the spheres “forms of poverty and deprivation unworthy of the human of Market and State, with the former unquestioned and person.”31 A collapse in solidarity is one of the primary unrestrained in its action upon society? Does it entail a subjects of Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium. sort of justice unconcerned with the suffering of others?

Authentic solidarity must begin with a well-ordered In answer to these questions, let us consider for a moment conception of the poor, one no longer dominated by Jesus’ parable of the beggar Lazarus. It begins with a man “a mentality in which the poor – as individuals and as robed in “purple and fine linen,” opulent clothing that peoples – are considered a burden, as irksome intruders testifies to a life of luxury. There is, however, a beggar trying to consume what others have produced.”32 Rather, named Lazarus at the rich man’s gate, covered not with current economic conditions must be assessed with the linen but with sores. As he peers in, he longs to eat even understanding that the poor ask for nothing more than the crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table. Lazarus, “the right to share in enjoying material goods and to make treated much like a dog, enjoys the company only of dogs. good use of their capacity for work, thus creating a world When both die, however, Lazarus is received into heaven, that is more just and prosperous for all.”33 One cannot, and the rich man is then, orchestrate an 28 tormented in hell. economic renewal Such a story that accounts only The rich man understood his exorbitant provides a way into wealth as a means of insulating himself from marginally for those the second pillar of the suffering in abject the suffering of the poor rather than as a Church’s economic privation.

Instead, doctrine: the principle the fate of the poor means of alleviating it. of solidarity. The rich must move to occupy man never stole from a central position in Lazarus; he never abused him or exploited him. And yet, the minds of those seeking to improve the economic and he was condemned justly to eternal damnation. The rich moral character of society. man had a duty to poor Lazarus. A duty, we may infer, Resisting the temptation to entrust the advancement that would not have been satisfied by the rich man paying of the poor to a distant and potentially despotic State, taxes to Caesar, even a Caesar committed to establishing it is evident that all levels and branches of society must a generous “imperial” safety net for his people. The rich proceed in harmony with each other if the problem of man understood his exorbitant wealth as a means of poverty is to be addressed in a fully human way. The State insulating himself from the suffering of the poor rather has, in its subsidiary role, the responsibility of enforcing than as a means of alleviating it. His indifference, his lack laws that uphold a just wage and that safeguard workers of compassion, and engagement, are what testified against against discrimination and unsafe working conditions.34 him at the end of his earthly life. We are called to act, to These guarantees, however, would prove powerless to the extent possible given our socioeconomic situation, in elevate the situation of the poor in the absence of a robust sympathy and fraternity, in solidarity with the poor. network of intermediary organizations. Local, volunteer How does this message translate onto a larger scale? associations are positioned uniquely to minister in real The market, just like the State, is not an end in itself and intimate ways to the souls of their communities. but rather an instrument in service to the immensity of Religious and other service-oriented groups can and do the dignity of the human person. Therefore, the market play a significant role in strengthening and preserving must not eclipse the State in power, becoming capable of social connectedness. By organizing and empowering defying the State’s authority as overseer of the common members of the community to tend to the needs of good.29 In harmonious cooperation, the relationship of those within it, such groups can do a great deal more to mutual support ensured by the principle of subsidiarity, infuse a real sense of hope, compassion, and belonging the two must together also strive to satisfy the principle than can a series of government checks in the mail. With of solidarity. The principle of solidarity emphasizes the the flexibility and special understanding that proceeds importance of recognizing actively, and in fully human from personal knowledge of a place and its people, these ways, the dignity of the most vulnerable. As the United groups can work to heal what are often deeply fractured

11 | Subsidiarity, Solidarity, and Social Teaching: A Catholic Perspective to Political Economy

Photo by Sam Gutierrez ‘15

and disjointed communities, elevating the value of material aid by mixing it with the transformative power of personal compassion.35 Also of note here is the labor union. Free and voluntary associations of workers, bound together not by resentment or envy but by fraternal feeling, play an invaluable role in support of labor. Unions fair and reasonable in their negotiations can contribute to a greater cohesion in the community of workers and employers, the strengthening of which honors the dignity and magnifies the prosperity of both.36 The demands of solidarity, however, will never be satisfied in a framework attentive only to the material aspects of human life and cooperation. For the totality of the human person extends far beyond the satisfaction of physical needs and fleeting desires. Indeed, it is impossible to conceive of the flourishing life, and by extension the flourishing of the common good, that lacks a deep engagement with the non-commercial and the spiritual elements of human existence.37 In gauging the status of many contemporary forms of capitalism, man must reflect deeply on a number of difficult questions: To what extent does the system show contempt for the weak and disadvantaged? How does our form of economic organization respect and cultivate respect for the intrinsic rather than the merely instrumental value of human beings? How do current conditions either empower or enfeeble men and women seeking to lead their lives and raise their families in accordance with Gospel values? With regard to these metrics, much of the extant system has proven a profound and tragic failure.

As Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis have accurately pointed out, “the human inadequacies of capitalism and the resulting domination of things over people are far

from disappearing.”38 An atomistic, individualist, valuefree conception of society content to solve exclusively technical problems revolving around increases in aggregate production and consumption will never minister to the needs of the people, never allow man to realize his transcendent worth or to rise above the market and above the State. Only a deep and comprehensive infusion of Christian cultural values can ensure that the laudable advancements in economic wealth, opportunity, and innovation produced by a market system contribute not to the vitiation of society’s moral sensibilities but rather to the real and practiced recognition of the sublime dignity of the human person. r Endnotes 1. Translated: “We have a pope!”

2. From Luke 10:27, Douhey-Rheims translation: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself.”

3. Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium, 2.I.54 4. Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium, 2.I.53 5. Pope Benedict XVI Blessed Are the Peacemakers, 1 6. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 3 7. The authoritative body that lays down the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church 8. Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium, 2.51 9. A papal letter sent to all bishops of the Catholic Church 10. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 6 11. Aquinas Summa Theologica, Question 91, Article 1 12. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 7

Swarthmore Peripateo | 12

by Dionne Wilson

13. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.30 14. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 13 15. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, I.6 16. Genesis 1:28, DR 17. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 8 18. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.13 19. Pope Leo XII Rerum Novarum, 9 20. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, 3 21. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, V.48 22. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 13 23. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, II.11-15 24. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.48 25. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.48 26. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.48 27. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.48 28. For the story in full detail, see Luke 16:19-31, DR 29. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.35 30. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. A Catholic framework for Economic Life

13

31. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, III.22 32. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, III.28 33. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, III.28 34. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, II.15 35. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.49 36. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 49 37. Pope Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, 57; Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.36 38. Pope John Paul II Centesimus Annus, IV.33

Nicholas Zahorodny ‘16 Nicholas is an Eastern Rite Catholic and a double major in philosophy and economics.

He can’t wait to switch back to the twenty-meal plan so that he can enjoy a leisurely breakfast every morning in Sharplés.

Ruining superficial dreams since 2001.

Immerse Your Dream In A Rich Reality Apply For A Fully-Funded Fellowship Trinity Forum Academy provides an exclusive nine-month graduate-level fellowship for spiritual formation, an in-depth personal research project, and vocational discernment. In community, Fellows develop an intellectually robust vision for Christian thought and life while expanding their understanding of the ideas and institutions that shape modern life.

academy.ttf.org Swarthmore Peripateo | 14

g n i w o l l Fo

s i r h C

By my sophomore year of college, I had

my life planned out. I was going to do biology research, attend graduate school, and become a professor. I obtained a research internship at Harvard for the summer, and everything seemed to be going as planned.

Except for the fact that my mother was slowly slipping away.

Initially, just her right hand was weak. She gave up her job as an ultrasound technician and struggled with simple tasks such as buttoning her shirt or closing the faucet. Then her whole right arm became limp and useless. In January of 2012, my mother was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Googling the term confirmed what my mother already instinctively knew: she was dying.

I struggled with what to do. My parents encouraged me to go to Harvard, but I didn’t know how much longer my mom had on earth. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure what would happen to my career prospects if I spent the whole summer at home. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to work at Harvard the next summer, since I needed to conduct research at or near Swarthmore to complete my Honors biology thesis. I tearfully explained my dilemma

15 | Following Christ Home

e m o H t u ryn W

th

by Ka

to my youth pastor over the phone. He listened, then said, “I think you should go home.” I was also convicted by a passage that I had read during a Bible study: As He walked along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed Him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him (Mark 2:14-15, NIV).

I was struck by the fact that Levi instantly left his lucrative career to follow Jesus – right into Levi’s own home. I started thinking about what it would look like for me to follow Jesus into my own home, which had always been the hardest place for me to model Christ’s love and patience.

So home I went.

By this time, my mother had trouble walking on her own. My dad and I took turns being her caregiver. I’d wake up at 7 am to help her get dressed, brush her teeth, and walk to the kitchen. Sometimes, at 3 am, I would

Photo by Sam Gutierrez ‘15

wake up and help her turn in bed. When my dad was not able to take my mom to prayer gatherings, I carried her into the van and drove her there myself. I also stepped into the role of mother for my two younger sisters, making sure they ate well, buying their clothes, and disciplining them when necessary. I was both physically and emotionally exhausted.

Yet it was during this time of my weakness that I saw God pour forth His blessings and grace. As my mom got progressively weaker physically, she became so much stronger spiritually. She couldn’t even lift a child’s sippy cup to her lips, but with her left hand, she would write letters of advice to our whole family, family friends, and everyone she could think of. In the past, I had been the one urging her to pray – now she was the one who would ask me if I prayed. She spent the early hours of the day praying for me and my sisters. Additionally, my church supported my family in every way imaginable - praying for and with us, giving my mother massages, providing financial support, bringing food and various herbal remedies, spending time with my sisters, doing bible studies and praise sessions at our home, and constantly encouraging us.

Looking back, I am so glad that I chose to go home that summer, which turned out to be the last time I saw my mom on this side of heaven. My worries about my future career turned out to be misguided: the next summer, God blessed me with a wonderful research internship on ALS at the University of Pennsylvania. Due to UPenn’s proximity to Swarthmore, I was able to continue my research throughout the school year. This work formed the basis of my Honors thesis, which focuses on epigenetic mechanisms underlying C9ORF72-associated ALS. As a soon-to-be-graduating senior, I do not know where God will lead me next. However, I am convinced of this: God is good, and His way is true. By His grace, I will continue to lift my cross daily and follow Him. r

Kathryn Wu ‘14 Kathryn is a biology-loving penguin from Southern California.

She regrets not submitting her senior Honors thesis as a haiku.

Swarthmore Peripateo | 16

“

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new bir th into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

�

1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

17 | La Iglesia de San Pedro

by Nancy Yeon-Joo Kim

LA IGLESIA DE SAN PEDRO

The Church of San Pedro in Ávila is at the edge of a small plaza and grabbed my attention by its simplicity. It isn’t grand like the amazing cathedrals I’ve seen all over Spain, but the church, in the dazzling sun light on a beautiful autumn day, spoke to me. The church is named after Peter, an apostle who is called the rock on which Christ will build the church. I was awed by the significance of the everlasting character of the salvation that believers of Christ have. The physical church will pass away with time, but the rock and Christ on which my faith is built will not perish.

Swarthmore Peripateo | 18

Making Peace with My

Worst Enemy

by Zoë Wray

Sitting with my thoughts can be really, was me who was causing the pain and yet not stopping it?

really annoying at times. When I get into a depressive, worrying mood, a vicious cycle begins where I worry deeply about something, almost always my relationships.

I beat myself up for this worry, because it causes me to say ridiculous things that I later regret, because they are completely untrue, and it irritates me that I frustrate and even hurt the people I hold most dear. I harshly scold myself for saying such stupid statements, and I worry that I have permanently ruined my relationship with the people I offended, and the cycle continues. I always end up excessively apologizing, which only annoys the people to whom I’m directing the apology, because I can’t stop apologizing, because I can’t stop feeling guilty. Going through this is the most emotionally torturous experience that I endure and sometimes it happens frequently enough to make me feel pretty depressed for weeks on end. Because it is a process that hurts both me and my relationships, it makes me hate myself for doing it. I become my worst enemy. I do nothing but hate and fail to appreciate one of God’s children.

At the Salvation Army church in Chester, the pastor, Major McKoy (in the Salvation Army, church leadership is assigned the names of military ranks), gave a sermon about how we treat our enemies. He described how when he was a teenager, someone beat him up. He really hated that man, and if he met him today, his impulse would be to hate him and beat him up, too. But instead of giving in to this impulse, Major McKoy preached, we should forgive our enemies and let go of the hate we may harbor for them.

As I listened to Major McKoy’s sermon, I thought about the enemies I had in my life and whether I had forgiven them or not. As cheesy as it sounds, I realized that of all the people I’ve hated and scorned in my life, the most consistent hatred I’ve felt has always been for myself. And as he talked about forgiving that enemy in your life, I wondered, how I could forgive myself when it

19 | Making Peace with My Worst Enemy

When I asked friends or family what I should do to deal with my worry, they always told me that I simply needed to improve my self-esteem. Then I look around in society and am inundated with the message that I am beautiful just for being me, that I, just like everyone else, can achieve anything. I constantly see magazines, advertisements, TV shows, and music lyrics that tell me that I am special and wonderful.

But this message has always rung hollow to me. How could any of the producers of this media know that I am beautiful or special, when they have never met me, and have no idea who I am? They don’t even know what I look like or what my heart looks like. They have no credibility when they say that I am beautiful inside and out. Only God knows me completely. Only God knows my soul, my face, my body, my deeds. God is the only one in this universe who can truly tell me that I’m beautiful. So why would it make any sense to go to anyone other than Him to figure out how to improve my self-esteem and finally rid myself of crippling worry for good?

Before I came to Swarthmore, I had never really studied the Bible. As a result, I never realized that God addressed worrying and that it was something He recognized and could help us with. During my freshman orientation week, I attended the Swarthmore Christian Fellowship’s first freshman Small Group of the semester, a Bible study specifically for freshmen. The passage that we studied for that session was Matthew 6:25-34, and it was a blessed experience for me because this passage spoke directly about worrying. Some of the most salient verses of this passage for me were verses 28-30: “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” I

realized I had absolutely no faith in God to take care of me and everything that I worried about.

When I prayed for God to take all my worries out of my mind and to give my mind rest, I gained several insights that have slowly but steadily helped me to worry less. First, I learned that talking to someone about my worries would be really helpful. By doing so, I have discovered how my past and upbringing have shaped my everyday thoughts and led them to be so destructive.

I also learned that I have to give God control over my problems. I have to admit that I can’t fight the worries and criticisms in my head without His help. To put this into practice, I have done my best to pray as soon as I feel the worrisome thoughts surfacing. I don’t feel better instantly when I do this, but after a little while God graces me with clarity of thought, which allows me to rationalize my worries and realize that they are not as threatening as I thought they were.

By bringing myself closer to Jesus, I realize that I’m not a horrible, hurtful person and that I am not doomed to mess up my relationships. But if I only focused on why I am a good person, I wouldn’t realize the potential I could reach by reaching out to God. The reason we can’t find that potential on our own, whether we tend towards selfdeprication or self-aggrandizement, is because we don’t have that potential on our own. We only find it through Jesus. As He said in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” r

Zoë Wray ’16 Photo by Sam Gutierrez ’15

Zoë is an honors major in Ar t History. She is extremely excited about the latest Nancy Drew computer game to be released on May 20. She loves video-taping her yorkie puppy, Slinky, running in slow-motion, almost as much as she loves ar t.

Swarthmore Peripateo | 20

KNOBS

by Sam Gutierrez

21 | Knobs

Sometimes, I don't see the point in cer tain things. Then, I remember Colossians 1:16: "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on ear th, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him" (ESV).

Swarthmore Peripateo | 22

Would you forgive me if I gave away my par ts?

You bought them for yourself

by Dorothy Kim

23 | Mercy of the Womb

by Er i

n K as

t

MB E WO F TH CY O MER

Over radio sur-

veillance, two government security personnel hear a choked plea: “Oh please, have mercy!” In a whisper, a second voice rejoins, “Oh, not tonight Bishop…not tonight!”

These lines are taken from the movie V for Vendetta (2005), shortly before the execution of yet another of V’s targets, Bishop Lilliman.

Bishop Lilliman, in addition to being a lascivious and hypocritical cleric, was, like all the rest of V’s victims, damningly complicit in the human

medical testing and state sanctioned mass murder of which V was both part and product. In this tense and thematically important scene, reprisal for Bishop Lilliman’s past and present sins came at last in the form of the masked vigilante, V. With the aid of a potent intravenous toxin, V delivered Bishop Lilliman’s lethal penalty and subsequently vanished into the shadows from whence he came, a bloodless execution paid in retribution for the bishop’s long, debauched life.

Now a movie titled V for Vendetta and a scene of such dark and vindictive reprisal must seem like an unlikely place to begin a discussion of Christian mercy; indeed, it is precisely the mercy asked for

by Bishop Lilliman that V does not provide. But I believe it is in a situation exactly as this that our cultural presuppositions regarding mercy are most acutely focused. Because we know what V is doing in the Bishop Lilliman scene: he is rejecting the bishop’s supplication on the grounds of just rec-

Swarthmore Peripateo | 24

ompense. Implicitly, V is telling the bishop that the situview with Pope Francis reviewed earlier in these pages ation demands something graver than mercy; it demands (“A Papal Perspective on Community,” Fall 2013). In justice. Instinctively – and especially given the repreit, Pope Francis avers: “the ministers of the church must hensible conditions of be ministers of mercy the bishop’s capture above all…[priests (he was meeting a girl have a tendency to Mercy, it seems, is a virtue with strong ties whom he believed to either too much all the way back to the greatest virtue of all, be] be a prostitute) – the of a rigorist or too love. viewer agrees: mercy, lax. Neither is merbishop? No, not tociful, because neither night. of them really takes Yet this is not to say our instincts are entirely misresponsibility for the person [...]. In pastoral ministry, placed, for it seems to the viewer the same as it seems we must accompany people, and we must heal their to V – the bishop is waving a “get out of jail free card,” wounds.”4 Mercy is central to Pope Francis’ theology as hoping that V will spare him reprisal for his misdeeds. it was for St. Francis of Assisi before him and as it has To acquiesce would not be justice, and if it is mercy, then been for the Church throughout history. For Francis, what kind of mercy lets a man simply get away with murmercy is the location of human responsibility, spiritual der (in this case, literally)? The short answer, and the aim healing, and growth, all undoubtedly essential aspects of of this essay is: not the kind in which Christians believe. a Christian’s spiritual and social life.

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, we should first ask: And now we are perhaps prepared to address the first why do Christians care about mercy in the first place? question of this essay: what is mercy and, by extension, The importance of mercy in Church tradition cannot why is it so overwhelmingly important to Christians? As be understated. In the English translation of the Bible, we observed earlier, justice at times seems a more approa quick search indicates that the word “mercy” appears priate response to this sinful world than mercy and, given approximately 261 times, absent in only 16 of the 66 its robust biblical foundation in over 500 passages of the books. Confirming the significance of the concept, in King James Bible, we must ask what exactly is it that the the Gospel of Luke, Jesus explicitly exhorts his followChurch is defending when she puts such a strong emers to “be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is phasis on mercy even at, some might argue, the expense merciful.”1 This scriptural imperative has manifested itof justice?5 For this analysis, we will turn to roots, and self in various ways throughout Church history: Psalm specifically that of the word translated in the Bible as 51, often known simply as “The Miserere,” is one of the “mercy.” greatest and most oft repeated psalms, in frequent use by There are many words in the Greek and Hebrew BiChristians around the world for centuries; indeed, the ble that are translated as mercy when the original text is Psalm was a favorite of St. Francis of Assisi who could be converted into English. Some of these words are alterheard repeating it daily. The Psalm begins, as the Latin nately translated as kindness, loving-kindness, goodness, name suggests, “Have mercy upon me O God, accordfavor, compassion, and pity. Already from this array of ing to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitranslations, some of the depth of the concept is brought 2 tude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” out; mercy, it seems, is a virtue with strong ties all the “The Miserere” is a wonderful prayer of mercy and love way back to the greatest virtue of all, love.6 But there to God, the psalmist beseeching the Lord for spiritual is something else that comes to mind when we think of healing and compassion. But perhaps there is no better mercy, and it is the aspect alluded to in our discussion historical example of the Church’s mercy tradition than of V: the feeling of being “let off the hook.” This aspect that of the Jesus Prayer, long held as one of the most of mercy lends itself to a power dynamic of high and profound expressions of Christian wisdom and repeated low, as in that of the knowing father condescending to particularly by the Church’s Orthodox for over a millena misbehaving son. A cursory glance at the Merriamnium: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner. A Webster dictionary definition of “mercy” confirms all of simple but entirely profound prayer for mercy borne of our intuitions thus far, defining the term as “compassionthe proverbial tax collector’s humble and contrite plea.3 ate forbearance,” “kindness,” “divine favor,” or the “discreYet if antiquated tradition were not enough for the tionary power of the judge to pardon or mitigate punishst 21 century reader, we may now turn to the 2013 interment.” But what I would like to argue is that this is not

25 | Mercy of the Womb

infant, is subsumed entirely and the mother subsumes her.

But to be in the womb means more than to be merely surrounded – it means to be utterly dependent, and in dependence, to be in a constant state of transformation.

What the mother eats, the child eats; what the mother drinks, the child drinks. In the womb, the substance of the mother is formed and transformed into the substance of the child. It is in the nature of the child to be absolutely dependent on the mother; at no moment, so long as the child remains in the womb, can the child be considered independent of his or her mother. Without the mother, the child would die – it would be reabsorbed by or expelled from the womb. Yet it is not only the child who is transformed: as the extensive debate over family planning has made eminently clear, the mother too has something at stake. The mother is made vulnerable and is forced to sacrifice parts of herself. Just as the child is formed by her mother but not so defined, the mother is formed and transformed by her child while all the while retaining her motherhood. The mother loves her child not because she loves her father nor because she knows her future, but she loves her child – the child whom she does not know and who cannot know her – because the child is her own, bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh.10 Thus, to say God is merciful means far more than to say God is compassionate or God

Swarthmore Peripateo | 26

http://tinyurl.com/lz2gznx

the mercy of the Old Testament. When Mary sings to Elizabeth in “The Magnificat,” “and [God’s] mercy is on them who fear him from generation unto generation,” she is not referring to a mercy which speaks down but a mercy which lifts up; one that “regards the lowly estate of his handmaiden” and causes that from “henceforth all generations will call [her] blessed.”7 What, then, is this mercy? For this we must return to the Hebrew Bible, where the Magnificat and all its theology of mercy, favor and faithfulness find their beginnings.8 Of all the words translated as “mercy” in the English Bible, I wish to focus first on the Hebrew word racham (‫)םימחר‬. This same word appears in Arabic, a related Semitic language, as raHma (‫)ةمحر‬. As a testimony to racham’s spiritual significance to all the Semitic faiths, we need only look to the Qur’an where the name arraHeem (‫ )ميحرلا‬precedes every chapter (sura) and functions above all other names as the most glorified ninetyninth name of God, The Merciful.9 Next in our Semitic root-finding exercise, we will draw up on an apparently unrelated word: womb. In Hebrew, the word for womb is rechem (‫ )םחר‬and in Arabic it is raHim (‫)محر‬. Strange that these two apparently disparate terms look and sound quite similar – this similarity is not coincidence. Both Hebrew and Arabic are rooted languages, which means that words in these languages consist of certain key letters that impart meaning, these letters being collectively referred to as the word’s “root.” For example, in Arabic, words typically contain a three-consonant root. These three consonants confer to the word, regardless of what other consonants and vowels may intervene, the basic idea for which the word is a lingual representation.

Roughly the same is true of Hebrew and so the lexicographical similarity of “womb” and “mercy” in the Jewish script suggests a continuity in meaning. Thus, to ask for the meaning of mercy – the greatest attribute of God and one of the most cherished Christian virtues – demands the surprising question: what does it mean to be in or of the mother’s womb?

Firstly, to be in the womb is to be within. The child in the mother’s womb is entirely contained within the womb of his or her mother. From the spirit to the flesh, the infant is subsumed by the one in which he or she coinheres. Likewise, the mother is the world of the child; the child knows no existence outside of the mother and the mother cannot, even if she wanted to, voluntarily and independently extricate the child from her womb. The womb is the ground of the child’s being and from it life flows. The mother cannot help but sustain the child and the child cannot help but remain in the womb. She, the

is pitying or God is kind. To say God is merciful is to say God loves us like a mother loves a child in her womb, or, rather, like the relationship of a child to the womb.

The philosopher Ivan Illich describes this concept of mercy – racham – as “the womb in the state of love.”11 But it is important that, unlike the mercy of the judge for the defendant, racham is two-way. Racham is a love that gives itself unconditionally without asking for anything in return. It is gratuitous, undeserved, and committed.

It gives excessively because this love cannot help but give itself entirely – it is the nature of being a mother and the essence of being a child; a Creative Love whose love overflows into the act of creation and not the other way around.

It is perhaps for this reason that the prophet Hosea wrote, speaking for God, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”12 Justice would require sacrifice, and burnt offerings, though a form of worship and praise, are also a means for reparation – a repayment for debts and an offering for gifts received. What God desires is something greater than justice and is itself a form of worship: racham. And we are fortunate that God is, as it is written in the Qur’an, the All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful (arraHmaan arraHeem) because it is only out of unconditional love that we humans – in all our sin – could be loved by God, and only out of gratuitous love that God would take “upon Him[self ] the form of a servant” and humble Himself even unto death on the cross – to become as in Genesis bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh.13 Our fortune is no better put than in the book of Lamentations when the prophet writes, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.”14 For Christians, the implications of this mercy stretch out across modern political and social discourse. What does it mean to have this mercy that is the womb in the state of love? For the government? For the family? But perhaps we should return to the circumstance with which we began – V and Bishop Lilliman. There we were presented with V’s demands of justice and Christianity’s mysterious and apparently inappropriate claims of mercy. To love Bishop Lilliman despite his disturbing depravity seems nearly impossible and to respond to his plea for mercy seems a misapprehension of a man whose moral authority had been decimated by iniquity years ago. But is it not the same for V? To ask a just man consumed by revenge to accept into his womb a wicked man consumed by fear is no less than outlandish, isn’t

27 | Mercy of the Womb

it? Bishop Lilliman wanted to be let off the hook, but neither V nor Christianity would allow it. Justice may have required death, but for a Christian, something more demanding was asked of both victim and vigilante – to be not let off the hook, but pruned by it until what was left was nothing like what was there before. A consummation and a completion in which the product could not be the same as its beginning, the womb in the state of love: mercy. r Endnotes 1. Lk. 6:36 (KJV) 2. Ps. 51:1 (KJV) 3. cf. Lk. 18:13 4. Antonio Spadero, “A Big Heart Open to God,” America Magazine, September 30th, 2013. Accessed January 6th, 2014 at http://www.americamagazine.org/popeinterview.

5. This count is actually a catalogue of two words, “justice” and “righteous.” This approximation significantly underestimates the actual prevalence of this concept considering other words such as “upright,” “fair,” “equal,” and “just” may also contribute in some instances to the entire conceptual word count.

6. cf. 1 Cor. 13:13 7. Lk. 1:48-50 (KVJ) 8. The Magnificat appears to be based on the Song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10) and other Old Testament passages.

9. Indeed, William Chittick and Sachiko Murata write in The Vision of Islam (1994) on page 76: “The Prophet reported that God has written upon his Throne, ‘My mercy takes precedence over My wrath.’”

10. cf. Gn. 2:23 11. Ivan Illich, Rivers North of the Future: The Testament of Ivan Illich as told to David Cayley, ed. David Cayley (Toronto: House of Anansi Press Inc., 2005), 184.

12. Hs. 6:6 (KJV) 13.Phil. 2:7-8 (KJV) 14. Lam. 3:22-23 (KJV)

Erin Kast ‘15 Erin is from Wausau, Wisconsin and is majoring in Biology and Religion.

He is currently studying abroad in Morocco, but will return in the fall for more good times at Swat.

PENDLE HILL

by Josh Gregory

Leaves tumble on

through the ear th in pirouetting flame, glowing plume & ember. The hand of one branch stretches down into your chest where blood star ts then torrents; ash graces the pond, your own body light enough to stand on its water.

Swarthmore Peripateo | 28

Christianity and the

Pursuit of Happiness

by Christina Keller

29 | Christianity and the Pursuit of Happiness

In Pharrell Williams’ Oscar-nominated

song, “Happy,” he sings in the chorus:

Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth Because I’m happy Clap along if you know what happiness is to you Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do1 “Happiness is the truth.” What an interesting line.

In Beyoncé’s video for her song, “Pretty Hurts,”2 off of her latest album, she reenacts her days doing beauty pageants. During the question and answer part of the pageant, she is asked by the host, “What is your aspiration in life?” She pauses for a moment before saying, in a montage of the difficulties being a beauty pageant contestant, “Oh, my aspiration in life? Wow, wow, that’s a great question… I wasn’t expecting that question. What is my aspiration in life? Um, well, my aspiration in life would be to be happy.”

In Kid Cudi’s song, “Pursuit of Happiness,”3 featuring MGMT and Ratatat, he sings: I’m on the pursuit of happiness And I know that everything that shine ain’t always Gonna be gold Hey, I’ll be fine once I get it I’ll be good.

Photo by Sam Gutierrez ’15

Some Christians would probably like to think that this theme of happiness, of happiness being an “aspiration,” “the truth,” or something to pursue is found only in secular pop music. However, plenty of contemporary Christian songs focus on happiness as well. The David Crowder Band has a song called, “Oh Happiness,”4 where the repeated line is, “Oh happiness, there’s grace enough for us and the whole human race.” Matt Redman has a song called, “The Happy Song,”5 which goes: For now I know that God is for me not against me Everybody’s singing now, ‘cause we’re so happy Everybody’s dancing now, ‘cause we’re so happy If only I could see your face See you smiling over us And unseen angels celebrate The joy is in this place One could argue that contemporary Christian songs

Swarthmore Peripateo | 30

focus on happiness or some sense of fulfillment just as some way to ignore my own struggles and disappointmuch as secular pop songs. However, the focus is God ments, but also the struggles and disappointments of bringing a sense of happiness or fulfillment. The source others. To put it bluntly, to pursue happiness inherently in secular pop songs often remains uncertain. involves some form of ignorance about the struggles and This rudimentary analysis of two genres of music, oppression of other people, and that, to me, is inherently though, is not meant wrong on a human to show people that Happiness is a feeling. It’s inherently ephem- moral level, but even believing in God is more explicitly, on a eral. We feel it for brief moments of time. the way to happiChristian level. I do ness, that God’s grace not think one can alwill have you perpetually smiling. Rather, I would like ways be happy knowing about the pain of marginalized to complicate both of these mentalities. I would like to friends or that there are 27 million people still workcomplicate the notion that we, as humans, should ever ing in slavery today or that that man you just passed on be pursuing something like happiness or contentment, the street in Philadelphia doesn’t have food or a place whether it be through God or some other means. to sleep. Happiness is elusive knowing that queer peoAs someone who identifies as Christian, I struggle ple face a life of imprisonment in Uganda, that around with finding happiness or contentment, just as much 350,000 queer youth are homeless in the United States, as the next person. My faith in God does not bring me and that thirty-three people in North Korea were shot perpetual happiness. God’s grace, as mentioned in the for being Christians. One cannot be consistently happy David Crowder band’s song, does bring a certain degree knowing the disproportionate rate of black male imprisof comfort. But happiness? Not so much. I think all of onment or the high level of poverty, and poor levels of us, as humans, struggle to find happiness. Things hapeducational resources in urban areas. In other words, one pen in our lives. We’re disappointed by those around us. cannot be perpetually happy knowing about a lot that is Loved ones die. We get rejected from internships, jobs, happening in this world. To be endelessly happy would and graduate schools. We don’t do as well as we’d like to require ignoring a lot of what is going on and affecting on tests and papers. Our families fight and break apart. those around us.

We get broken up with. We have our identities rejected Moreover, Jesus explicitly calls us as humans to not igand marginalized. We stub our toes. nore the suffering of those around us. In Matthew 25:31Happiness is a feeling. It’s inherently ephemeral. We 46, the Parable of the Sheeps and the Goats, He tells his feel it for brief moments of time. That moment at the end listeners that those who will receive their inheritance of of a long finals period. When we find out we got a job or the kingdom of God are those who took care of the hunan internship we really wanted, or when we found out we gry, thirsty, naked, and imprisoned in the here-and-now, got into Swarthmore. That moment when our screw date because in doing so they are taking care of Jesus. While isn’t that awkward of a person and actually ends up bethere are numerous interpretations of this passage, with ing kind of fun to talk to. When our favorite song comes respect to good works being or not being a path to salvaon at Paces and people are actually dancing. When it’s tion, it is clear at least from this passage that Jesus did not Indian bar, or whatever-our-favorite-bar is at Sharples. want his listeners ignoring the pain and needs of others.

When we get a care package in the mail or receive words This passage is a call to take care of others because to care of affirmation from a professor. Happiness does come. It for others is to show that you care about Jesus. Throughjust comes in brief moments and is usually replaced at out other passages in the Gospels, Jesus calls for those some point by another feeling, whether it be disappointwho follow Him to care for the poor. In Matthew 19:21, ment, sadness, grief, or something completely different. he tells a rich man to sell all his possessions and give To be perpetually happy is to ignore or somehow eshis money to the poor. Throughout all four Gospels, He cape from the harder struggles in life that happen to us, was constantly healing people from their suffering. Many some more than others. I struggle to aspire to happiness, Christians sum up Jesus’ commandments as loving God because, to me at least, it seems impossible, through God and loving one’s neighbor. Loving one’s neighbor inheror any other means. Life is full of shortcomings. Happiently involves a degree of empathy, of emotional involveness is a feeling, like any other. However, I doubly strugment in their suffering and disappointments. gle to pursue happiness or see it as some kind of truth, Thus, from both a Christian angle and a humanist because to pursue happiness would not just be finding angle, I think happiness is not something we should be

31 | Christianity and the Pursuit of Happiness

striving or aspiring towards, or viewing as the truth. Does this mean we should never feel happiness? Far from it. We should experience all of the emotions we have been endowed with and handle them appropriately. However, we should strive for things that are less ephemeral than a singular feeling. As a Christian, I would argue that we should be striving for love and empathy, for caring about a neighbor’s suffering and trying to walk with them through it. I would not say, “love is the truth,” per se, because love has many different meanings and can be interpreted many different ways. One could even argue that love is just another feeling. However, to have a mentality that strives to care for and have compassion about those around one’s self is a truth to aspire towards. To be conscious of one’s actions and their impact on others and the surrounding environment, I would argue, is worth pursuing. To fight oppression and to feel enraged about the injustices of the world is worth pursuing. To grieve, to mourn because of the way people are hurt is worth pursuing. To feel a sense of joy or fulfillment because some progress is made or a struggling friend achieves some sense of contentment or closure or healing is worth pursuing.

However to pursue happiness just for the sake of happiness, whether it be from God or some other means? It just doesn’t make sense to me. r

The monster fish swims dangerous inside of me three days and three nights

by Dorothy Kim

Endnotes 1. Williams, P. (2013). “Happy.” On G I R L. New York City, NY: Columbia Records.

2. Furler, S. (2013). “Pretty Hurts.” [Recorded by Beyoncé Knowles]. On Beyoncé. New York City, NY: Columbia Records.

3. Mescudi, S. (2009). “Pursuit of Happiness.” [Recorded by Kid Cudi, MGMT, and Ratatat]. On Man on the Moon: The End of the Day. New York City, NY: Good Music.

4. Crowder, D. and Parker, J. (2009). “Oh, Happiness.” On Church Music. Roswell, GA; sixsteprecords.

5. Redman, M. (1995). “The Happy Song.” On Passion For Your Name. London, UK: Kingsway Records.

Christina Keller ’14 Christina is from St. Paul, Minnesota and a special major in sociology/anthropology and educational studies. Her dream is for everyone to realize the game “Duck, Duck, Goose” is actually called “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck.”

Swarthmore Peripateo | 32

LEAVING SPACE

musicians. When I heard what sounded like some sort of harmonic alchemy, one of them might turn to another and name the chord progression with an intrigued smile.

What also became clear was that when other musicians asked, “Who are you listening to?” they were referring to a very intense kind of listening that could be just as accurately described as studying. If I said I listened to a particular artist, I would have to be able to talk about particular chord progressions, what made a certain melody so interesting, a singer’s tone quality, or other very specific musical details that I wouldn’t really pick up if I simply “listened” in the

by Nathan Scalise way that I “listen” to music while I write. The goal of listening to a particular “So, who are you listening to?” the quest- artist was usually some combination of imitation and tion caught me a little bit off guard. I was squeezed into understanding. Similarly, when I was interacting in a folding seat in a 15 passenger van with musicians at combinations of English and Spanish, I had to listen with the Panama City Jazz Festival, where I was externing. that same level of focus in order to actually understand “Right now, a lot of Nina Simone,” I answered, and soon what people were telling me, as well as to, then, use the everyone was chiming in. We discussed particular tunes phrases that would most effectively communicate what I and suggested artists who were similar while universally was trying to say. affirming that while there were comparable singers, and Looking at the Bible, various writers frequently there might be comparable pianists, there was definitely exhort their readers to listen. James 1:19 says, “Let no one else who could do both in the way that she did. everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to After a few days of very similar occurrences, I realized anger.”1 Proverbs is full of statements like, “If one gives that I would have to be ready to answer, “Who are you answer before hearing, it is folly and shame.”2 And most listening to?” at the Panama City Jazz Festival as readily compellingly, Jesus frequently begins or ends parables as I answer, “What do you study?” at Swarthmore. I also by declaring variations of, “Let anyone with ears to hear realized that talking coherently and competently about listen.”3 When Jesus tells me to listen, I believe that what jazz required informing speech with listening to a deeper is being asked of me is at least as intense as what I had to extent than I had first thought. do in Panama and what I have to do as a musician. I also Over the course of my extern week, I listened in ways believe that a deep level of listening is a necessary element that I never had before. This was because I was interacting of both the Christian faith and the kind of dialogue and with people in my second language and listening to, community life that Swarthmore has so emphasized. and sometimes playing, jazz with professional jazz When asked to name the greatest commandment,

to listen

33 | Leaving Space to Listen

Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with I clear some mental space and I focus on the “sound” that all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your I’m trying to hear, then I wait. strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as Seriously listening to anyone entails prioritizing that yourself.”4 Imagine trying to love someone without person and implicitly states that you value them, their listening to them. Showing love to someone requires an perspective, or some combination thereof, enough to understanding of their desires and needs. It entails a level invest energy in trying to understand what they are saying. of emotional involvement and interaction that cannot Put more succinctly, listening is an act of love. Therefore, occur without listening. Trying to love without listening choosing whom or what to listen to is a decision about is awkward at best and can even be harmful at worst. As whom to love. As a Christian, I believe that God loves George Bernard Shaw somewhat humorously put it, “Do everyone and that any expression of my faith would be not do unto others as you would that they should do unto hideously incomplete without love. In the words of Paul, you. Their tastes may not be the same.”5 For instance, a “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but freshly baked apple crumble do not have love, I am a noisy would make my brother very gong or a clanging cymbal.”6 happy, but it would make me Consequently, I believe that Trying to love without listening is sick because I’m allergic to I cannot dismiss anyone awkward at best and can even be as unworthy of the level of apples. harmful at worst.

Loving God, therefore, listening I have described requires listening to God. The above. This isn’t to say that more time I’ve spent both I agree with or support pondering and practicing prayer, the more it has struck me everything that I’ve listened to. as strange that it is described as a conversation in theory, I don’t. But, returning to my and often looks like a one-sided conversation in practice. analogy to music, when I I’ve spent a lot of time in Christian communities, and I’ve truly listen to something seen an emphasis on praising God, on that I don’t really like, I serving God and on praying to God. know why I don’t like it.

All of these things are implicitly I can point to the spots rooted in and require listening to God. Without listening, it’s not possible to know how God wants to be praised or what kind of service pleases God. Fr e q u e n t l y, I’ve heard it said that we read the Bible in order to know what God says. In other words, we listen by reading. I believe that reading the Word is a necessary but not sufficient component of listening to God. Seriously listening to God isn’t something that can be done while reading the Bible any more than it would be possible to seriously listen to lectures while doing my readings.

Listening requires an exclusive focus on the speaker and their words. In that respect, I don’t believe that listening to where I’d like to God is fundamentally different from listening to anyone have rewritten else. As such, listening to God requires listening in the the melody or most literal sense of the word. When I listen to God, changed a lyric. what I do is very similar to what I do before a jazz concert.

When Jesus

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was twelve, He was in the temple “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.”7 This is the first time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus is acting as an independent person and the first even remotely mental task that Jesus does is listen. That’s a powerful statement. About twenty years later, Jesus would proclaim, “Woe unto you, teachers of the law!”8 but before He denounced them, He listened to them. A similar pattern, compressed into a few minutes, occurs over and over in Jesus’ interactions: someone asks Him a question, He responds with a question, He listens, and then He exposes what’s going on beneath the surface. This pattern shows up in the introduction to the story of the Good Samaritan,9 the question about paying taxes to Caesar,10 and the question of whether the baptism of John was from heaven.11 Jesus knows God and the word of God in an incredibly intimate way, and not just because He is God. On the occasions when Jesus actually critiques the theology of the Pharisees and Sadducees, He points to If I perish, I perish specific practices for such a time as this and the specific set my path on fire commandments that they are violating.12 In

by Dorothy Kim other words, Jesus has studied the Word of God and he has listened to those around him. That same model, studying the Word, listening, and looking at what does and doesn’t line up, is still the best model I can find for the process of discerning how to respond to what I listen to.

Reflecting on my experiences as a member of the Swarthmore community and various Christian communities on and off campus, I have been on both ends of good and bad listening. Weeks or even months after a conversation and usually in the light of some additional piece of information, I have realized what someone was trying to tell me. I have waited until I had what seemed like enough information, drawn conclusions, and stopped trying to listen in the way I’ve described above. I’ve then found out later that my conclusions were wrong, and that occasionally my assumptions could not have been further from the truth. This has happened with relatively small things like suggestions for essay revisions and more important things like understanding why people felt excluded by some of the many groups of which I

35 | Leaving Space to Listen

am a part. At times, my own bad listening has caused unnecessary pain to people that I care about. The only way that I’ve found to make up for bad listening is through a significantly larger amount of good - at least much better - listening.

Listening requires leaving space for speech.

Sometimes listening to the silence and what isn’t said is as important as listening to anything that is said. It can be awkward. But, I’ve often heard people talk about being able to have a wonderful conversation with a close friend without saying a word. Furthermore, as a musician I have learned that the rests are as important as the notes.

Great pieces of music often sound comically bad if you play them without the rests - for fun, try this with the “Lacrimosa” from the Mozart Requiem. Listening is a serious endeavor. It takes work, time, and energy. Even so, I have regretted listening poorly but never regretted trying to listen in the way I’ve outlined. Now, since I appreciate the irony of writing about listening, I’m going to stop talking and listen.

Thank you for listening.r Endnotes 1. James 1:19 (NRSV) 2. Proverbs 18:13, (NRSV) 3. Mark 4:9 and 4:23, Matthew 11:15 and 13:9, to name a few.

4. Luke 10:27 (NRSV) 5. http://www.bartleby.com/br/157.html 6. 1st Corinthians 13:1, NRSV verses 2 and 3 also elaborate on the idea.

7. Luke 2:46 (NRSV) 8. Luke 11:46-52 (NRSV) 9. Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV) 10. Luke 20:20-26 (NRSV) 11. Luke 20:1-8 (NRSV) 12. Mark 7:9-13 (NRSV)

Nathan Scalise ’16 Nathan is from Brewster, Massachusetts and is currently searching for the 25th hour of the day. When not running or eating, he basically lives in the Lang Music Building.

PRAYER FOR SWARTHMORE Our Lord and Redeemer, You alone are good. You are full of grace, mercy, compassion. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. In complete authority, you stand supreme. Your greatness exceeds far beyond our limited understanding.

In endless creativity you shape all things. Even this journal you formed from the beginning. We invited you to be present in every detail, large and small, reflected and glorified on every page. We now dedicate this work to you and pray that its purpose be fulfilled on our campus.

We pray for Swarthmore College. That you would shape this community into a place of radical, transformative love. That we would jointly set aside sinful desires and pursue righteousness for our good and your glory. We ask that you would open the hearts and minds that have hardened against you, reminding us of your forgiveness in the midst of our continual rebellion. That in our classrooms, our concert halls, our athletic fields, your will would be made complete.

Let heavenly peace come down upon us. Give us eyes to see and humble hearts to listen. Lead us to your Truth and to a clear understanding of you. For eternal is your power, and your justice, and your glory, and your love.

Amen.

CONTRIBUTORS George Abraham ’17 George plans to major in Engineering and/or Mathematics. He has written spoken word poems since 10th grade. He is a member of OASIS and recently competed in CUPSI.

You can see his piece on page 5.

Sam Gutierrez ’15 Hi, my name is Sam. You can find me either staring blankly at a window or daydreaming my time away.

You can see his piece on page 21.

Dorothy Kim ’15 Josh Gregory ’15 Josh, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an Honors Religion major. He is an avid pilgrim.

You can see his piece on page 28.

Dorothy majors in Biology and English Literature and is from Por t Washington, New York. She enjoys eating Moose Tracks ice cream and reading The Swatter in her free time.

You can see her piece on pages 9, 23, 32, and 35.

Nancy Yeon-Joo Kim ’14 Nancy is a special major in Literary Translation who still has too many things she wants to do in life to decide what she will do after graduation.

Her goal right now is to finish translating her first novel from Korean into English.

You can see her piece on page 18.

Dionne Wilson ’15 Dionne is a Studio Ar t major from Ghana. She loves design and has a deep contempt for Comic Sans.

You can see her piece on page 13.

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PERIPATEO STAFF Michael Superdock ’15 Michael is from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and is a major in Computer Science. When holding a hot object, he likes to drop it like it’s hot.

Carlo Bruno ’17 Carlo is an intended Political Science major from Half Moon Bay, California. He misses the beach and the Mexican food.

Shirley Ramirez ’14 Shirley is a Biology major with a minor in Spanish from Upland, California. She likes exploring and singing songs about sunshine.

Heitor Santos ’17 Heitor is Political Science and Education special major from Recife, Brazil. He likes to lie on Parrish beach and complain about pasta bar.

Meghan Huang ’14 Meghan is a Psychology major from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. On Wednesdays, she wears pink.

Nate Lamb ’17 Nate is a minimalist.

Josselyn Tufino ’14 Josselyn is an Economics major with a minor in Public Policy from Brooklyn, New York. You can find her avoiding the sun and drinking coffee.

Renan Meira ’17 Renan came all the way from the south of Brazil to explore his many talents in the States. He is currently a freshman at Swar thmore and hasn’t yet decided on his major and two minors.

Patrick Han ’16

Roy Walker ’16

Patrick Han plans to major in Political Science and minor in Public Policy and Chinese. A Chinese-born Korean raised in southern California, he enjoys fencing and long walks on the beach. He is also a great driver.

Roy is a Lutheran from York, Pennsylvania, majoring in Economics and minoring in Statistics.

If these fail to pan out, he plans to expand his backroom dorm barbershop into the biggest business since Paul Mitchell.

37 | Peripateo Staff

Selah.

Pause.

Breathe.

Think of that.

May the path rise to meet you and surround you with good yet to be done.

May your hands grasp onto love and establish peace.

And when you are weary, may the Spirit overflow its banks and bathe your feet in grace.

Selah

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‫סֶלָה‬