Some churches still have soup kitchens in NYC. This form of outreach ministry helps many men, women and children with hot meals that they'd otherwise not have. This is the side of NYC and America that we turn a blind eye to and that tourists prefer not to see or never really do.
Growing up (1984), my parents ran into some monetary issues and we ended up asking for free non-perishable foods like canned vegetables and dry milk from different churches including the Riverside Church (http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/), which would send you home with two bags of groceries only once a week. It was quite embarrassing for me at the time to be the subject of this charity.
There was this church somewhere in Manhattan where one day my father and I ended up eating cold spaghetti with hot tomato sauce. We were surrounded with homeless and much more needy individuals. You might call this a crash course in humility. I'd like to go back to this church to have a plate of cold spaghetti with tomato sauce once again. Unfortunately I've got no idea what church this was.
At the same time, the Riverside Church (http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/) and its charity will always have a special part of my heart and soul. This church was there for me when I could have been hungry.
In all, this is what Christian churches were like in the early 1980's. Nowadays it's much more different with tighter budgets, lawsuits and other obstacles. Nonetheless some churches and religious organizations still offer this form of outreach ministry -- Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (http://www.fapc.org/), Jackson Heights Seventh-day Adventist Church (http://www.jacksonheightschurch.org/), the Bowery Mission (http://www.bowery.org/) and others (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=soup+kitchens+nyc).
Perhaps we should all serve a soup kitchen at least once and share a meal with those in more need that we could ever be.
Showing posts with label 1980's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1980's. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
lo-fi joke, for those who were born in the late 1960's and 1970's
LE CULTE DU CASSETTE (THE CASSETTE CULT)
Low Noise, Type I
* lo-fi joke, for those who were born in the late 1960's and 1970's
Well what got into me to change the name of this blog from "Shopping for Faith" to "Le Culte du Cassette" (The Cassette Cult)? There's a joke in all this. Read it all or just jump to reason five (5) and not read the whole boring explanation.
1. It's a lo-fi joke for those who were born in the late 1960's and 1970's who might get it right away. Back when we were younger (1980's), most of us used cassettes to listen to our favorite records from whichever music genre (in my case, all forms of hard rock like punk and thrash).
2. To some of us back then, music genres were like subcultures, like a religion -- from choosing your friends (not limited by sex, race or religion) to what you wore (in my case, jeans and a black MC jacket).
3. Nowadays there's a retro community (1970-80's music, clothes, cars, guitars, etc) who still sees music as a deciding factor in human relationships, in the same way, that members of a church (religion, denomination, faith, beliefs, traditions, building, etc) become a subculture as we befriend other members of the same church.
4. Since some religious groups (also definable as subcultures) are considered cults for being deviant from the mainstream practice of Christianity, the new name is a mockery of this whole experience, human condition, situation and/or schism. Now is this a mockery of God? No, it's rather a mockery on man-made religion (practices) and oneself.
5. Then again I simply wanted to change the name from "Shopping for Faith" to something more relevant like enjoying religion and faith as most of us enjoy and love music (even in outdated, low fidelity technology). After all I already shopped for a spiritual home (a church) and I found one with several people whom I've become good friends with.
Low Noise, Type I
* lo-fi joke, for those who were born in the late 1960's and 1970's
Well what got into me to change the name of this blog from "Shopping for Faith" to "Le Culte du Cassette" (The Cassette Cult)? There's a joke in all this. Read it all or just jump to reason five (5) and not read the whole boring explanation.
1. It's a lo-fi joke for those who were born in the late 1960's and 1970's who might get it right away. Back when we were younger (1980's), most of us used cassettes to listen to our favorite records from whichever music genre (in my case, all forms of hard rock like punk and thrash).
2. To some of us back then, music genres were like subcultures, like a religion -- from choosing your friends (not limited by sex, race or religion) to what you wore (in my case, jeans and a black MC jacket).
3. Nowadays there's a retro community (1970-80's music, clothes, cars, guitars, etc) who still sees music as a deciding factor in human relationships, in the same way, that members of a church (religion, denomination, faith, beliefs, traditions, building, etc) become a subculture as we befriend other members of the same church.
4. Since some religious groups (also definable as subcultures) are considered cults for being deviant from the mainstream practice of Christianity, the new name is a mockery of this whole experience, human condition, situation and/or schism. Now is this a mockery of God? No, it's rather a mockery on man-made religion (practices) and oneself.
5. Then again I simply wanted to change the name from "Shopping for Faith" to something more relevant like enjoying religion and faith as most of us enjoy and love music (even in outdated, low fidelity technology). After all I already shopped for a spiritual home (a church) and I found one with several people whom I've become good friends with.
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