Sunday Special: should I care about my body?

I've recently come back to exercises. Jogging and swimming are becoming a part of my weekly routine. It's party due to medical reasons, partly because I want to look good. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has awaken and decided to finally move a bit. Is it appropriate, though, for me as a Christian, to do so?

"Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return." And yet I care about my body. I exercise, I take great care about my outfits, occasionally put some makeup on and have a stack of different cosmetic products that are supposed to keep me looking young and beautiful at least until I'm 90.

I've had different phases in terms of my attitude towards the looks. At present it would come down to something like this: it's important how you look. But you don't need to look in any particular ways. Canons of beauty can be done away with. But how cannot you take care of your body which is the temple of the Spirit? How can I not eat healthily? And exercise? And dress nicely?

True, the Church for centuries have undermined the importance of the body. But see the description of the creation in Genesis 2:7 "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." The body was made first. It was important that it was fitted for the home of the soul. It wasn't as if God has created the spirit and then quickly put a body together so that there was something that could contain it.

It God has taken great care to form us, we should also take great care to keep it well. Even to keep it beautiful.

A new term ahead

My Easter vacations are nearly over. With only a couple of days before leaving home again, unexpected rescheduling of Trusts collections for Friday rather than Saturday afternoon, visit to doctor's and sorting out my summer plans, it's still fairly busy and I'm glad I'm going back to Oxford soon. I miss my friends and the sense of independence that I get while I'm there. 

Also, I have so many plans for the coming term. Firstly, I will finally make use of swimming facilities in Oxford and get this body moving. Then, ballet classes must continue, that's for sure. There's a trip to the Globe planned and the college ball. I would also love to make a weekend escape somewhere and have a break from studies. This will be a busy term, but I enjoy busyness. Yes, I was told already that I do too much, but how can I help it that I love doing things? Being still is not my thing. Of course, I do need silent moments. And I make time for them. But my default setting is action.

See you soon across the sea!

Sunday Special: All about Him

Christ is Risen! - Truly He is risen!

This Easter is special for me. The Lord has truly risen in my heart. You often say that this is what should happen during Easter, but, in all honesty, how often does it actually happen? We participate in three-day-long liturgy, sing the joyful Alleluia! and often this is it. The next day our life is the same.

This year I truly think the future shines with the light of the living God. He is near.

What has struct me during the pa st 4 days is that Lent and Easter is not really about fasting, silence, my sin, sins of other people, you, me or anything else. It's all about Jesus. He is at the centre of everything. Put Jesus first and everything else will fall into place. What should you fear if Jesus has conquered the grave?

On the go

Whether I like it or not, I travel a lot. Having spent two years and a bit constantly boarding planes, I temporarily switched to trains only to come back to more convenient planes again. 

I'm sitting at Wien Westbahnhof. Train stations and airports have something special to them. It might be the people rushing around. Or a feeling of excitement (or sleepiness, depending on the time of the day). With 2 hours to spare I thought I might share some bit and bobs.

What I love about train stations and airports is the feeling that you're going somewhere. I have my suitcase, my laptop bag and I can go wherever I want. I buy a cup of tea or coffee, open my laptop and do all the little things that need to be done. Check my ticket and an ID, then go to the gate or to the platform. Sit back, watch people. Watching people is great. Looking at their clothes, at what they're doing, at their companions. I'm not nosy person, neither do I like gossiping, so watching people in places such as train stations and airports gives me a chance to get a little glimpse into their lives without being harmful at all. And sometimes you can meet quite a character on your way.

I love the mixture of languages. Being in a place which is largely monolithic in terms of a language scares me if I don't know this particular language, because I like to understand those around me. In transit places, however, there is such a mixture of tongues, that it doesn't matter that I don't understand. I can just get immersed in all these sounds and phrases.

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In Brussels and Vienna (and probably other places too, but I haven't seen it myself yet) security people or the police tells the homeless to get out of the waiting areas. As much as I understand why they do that (at least to some extent), I find it rather unpleasant, especially when it's cold outside. These people have nowhere to go. Though I have to say such situations are usually handled very well, there is not shuffling or anything. Dignity retained?

People who think they're on their own drive me mad. I mean people who either are terribly loud (talking or playing music) or those who shush everyone for every possible reason. In either situation it's almost unbearable for me to get through this. Especially that the two types of people usually go together. If you encounter one, you get another as a bonus. 

Another thing is a lack of free wifi. Honestly, we live in a 21st century, there has to be wifi. I really don't know why train stations are often dead spots. It's not that I'm an addict. I can deal with no internet on a train (though it should be there!). But when I'm sitting here for hours, I need some entertainment. Or a chance to check an email and write a blog post. This is all that I need. And I don't want to pay for such a basic commodity.

The 2 hours have passed and I'm off to my next destination. 

Sunday Special: ordinary Christians

For centuries the Church Fathers have wondered how to convert people. How to bring them to Christ? In the past physical force seemed to be the most effective way of evangelisation. Thankfully, the mentality has changed and such methods are no longer either acceptable or effective. But the struggle continues.

What I have found out during my "mature" Christian life is that fancy methods don't work. It's like a rather poor marketing strategy. You can have colourful billboards, loud commercials and a catchy soundtrack, but people are not stupid and will realise that what you try to sell them is not all pink and fluffy.

Christianity is not pink and fluffy. Frankly, it's one of the least pink and fluffy things that I know. But what it gives is the hope of internal life, indeed, a certainty of it. But it's hard. The world is not helping. So we can try to attract people by modern songs (to make it more entertaining), short liturgy (who has time these days for sitting in the Church?), loosening the requirements of the Decalogue (people do not like to be challenged) and making sure there is nothing controversial about the Church or its teaching.

This will not work though. Not at all. Because it's not convincing at all. What is convincing is ordinary Christians living good lives each day. It's more convincing because it's real and very practical. And you can see it straight away. Their faith is shining through all that they do. It's wonderful. It's uplifting. It's so ordinary.

In-betweener

You sit in a cafe, or on a train or anywhere else. Someone sits next to you and you start chatting. After some time you say you're from Poland. After a pause, your conversation partner says: "Oh really? I wouldn't have thought!"

I've had the above experience quite a few times. I'm not an 'exhibitionist' Pole. I'm not particularly active in the Polish Society and you can hardly ever hear me speaking Polish. Pleasant as it is for my ego to be mistaken for a Brit, it makes me wonder whether I'm not losing something... Should I be at all concerned that I don't have Polska written on my forehead?

I'm a patriot. I love Poland. At the same time, I would like to have a British passport, as the best part of my adult life (almost all of it, quite frankly) has been spent in the UK. My Polish ties become loser and loser. There are many Polish things that I don't understand or find very hard to accept. Like not queuing for a bus. Or complaining about everything. Or poor pays. Or public healthcare arrangements. When I talk about British things I say "in our place" rather than "there in the UK". And I drink tea with milk.

On the other hand, I'm through, through and through Polish. I expect a guy to pay for me on the first date and bring me flowers. I hate toast bread and miss proper cottage cheese. I feel touched hearing "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego", our national anthem. I love the sound of Polish, especially Polish from the eastern parts of the country, with this wonderful accent.

As the time goes I understand more and more about the English mentality. But I'm not sure whether I would ever become so immersed in this culture that I could say that I feel British. It makes a whole lot of a difference. I don't know where I actually belong. Neither here nor there. Or maybe here and there?

Our biggest failure

Apparently, each Pole throws away 100 kg of food a year. In the UK, 7 million tonnes of food is wasted every year.

I hate throwing food away. I have a deep sense of food being something precious and important. Especially bread. It might have a lot to do with my Christianity, bread symbolises the body of Christ and in the Lord's prayer (Our Father), we ask for our daily bread. But I find it hard to be mindful with food in Oxford. Organising food shopping together is too much of a fuss (or is it?), cooking for one person is not the most convenient thing I've done (big packets of everything are a nightmare!) and so on... I also have myself to blame for this appalling food situation.

We have enough food to feed everyone, and yet 842 million people don't have enough to eat. I think this is one of the biggest failures of the society. I look around, even in my room and I see plenty. Plenty of electronic devices, clothes, books, pretty items of no apparent usefulness. Multiply it by a number of households in developed countries. And add up the money spent by those most wealthy of the world on private casinos, helicopters, yachts, diamond lingerie and all sorts of things that are by no means necessary.

Even with Earth so overpopulated as it is now, we can still ensure that each person has a decent standard of living. Food is basic. And so is water. I open my fridge and I think whether we need all these fancy products. I learn to appreciate simple things. Bread with butter. Milky tea and a piece of toast with jam. Oh yes, I do cook fancy food, especially when I get home, because it's the way I treat my family. But really it's not necessary. We would do without prawns, capers and mozzarella. So many people do without something that I consider plain and boring, something that is always within my reach. Something has gone terribly wrong, that we want more and more despite the fact that others have less and less.

I dream about a world where no one is hungry, no one sleeps on the streets or is lonely. Dreams do come true. I will cling to this hope.

Sunday Special: Be grateful

There is so much that I can complain about for more or less legitimate reasons. Plus it seems to be a thing these days to keep complaining.

But everything that I get is a gift. I know it. When I read about people who have lost everything, who are terminally ill, have broken families, have missed their moment in life and I feel that I have been so blessed.

Every evening I pause and thank God for three particular things that I have experienced. It's a good exercise, because even if I have an awful day I try to see what God has given me. Sometimes it's a lovely conversation, sometimes a view or a book that I've read. It might be anything that brings me joy. There's always light, always something to be grateful for. Although there are days when I just think that there's nothing good that I could cling to. Nothing at all. But then, should I not be grateful for my life? Life is the greatest thing I have.

Thanksgiving prayers is often neglected. But it shouldn't be. Be grateful, because then life tastes better. We start to appreciate what we get, also little things.

Are we all like this?

I mean, complaining all the time?

Recently, I had a doubtful pleasure of going to the doctor's. So I come to the registration, say that I was registered for 5 pm. It's 4:59 pm. I get a number. 11. And off I go to take my seat. Thankfully, there are only 2 people to go before me. Not too bad as for our national standards. I wait. It turns out I need to wait until 5:45 pm before I can get to see my doctor. But nevermind. I'm prepared, I have my book and lots of patience.

Those 45 minutes wouldn't be too bad at all if it wasn't for the complaining that I had to listen to throughout these sweet 45 minutes on a lazy April afternoon. About long queues to the doctor's. About the doctor who didn't leave a prescription at the registration desk. About someone who didn't look after her mother. And so on. Quite understandably I could not focus on my reading. Instead, I was soaked in a multitude of pretensions. Instantly, I've got more ill than I was when I'd taken my seat.

Across from me sat a religious sister and I could see in her face that she was not pleased either.

The worst thing is that it's contagious! My word, I always come back home very optimistic, with no issues whatsoever, but after a couple of weeks in Poland I start moaning about everything. Even now I complain about complaining (yet again).

Honestly, I haven't encountered that in England so far. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or maybe it's just a Polish attitude?

I recommend Poland. Come and Complain channel on YouTube. Some people criticise it for using an inside joke to promote Poland to outsiders. Well, maybe it's good to for us Poles to realise that something needs to be done. In the meantime, do come and complain.

Money matters

Apparently young Polish people leave Poland and work elsewhere because 'elsewhere' is a place where they will get paid more.

Surely, when I am about to make a choice about an internship in the UK, where I'm offered at least 300 GBP a week and in Poland, where I can get 1200 PLN a month, all things being equal, I will go for the former rather than the latter.

But this is only all things being equal. We, young people (and excuse me for not speaking only for myself in this instance), DO want more than money. The problem is not in monetary remuneration. Important as it is, my generations is wise enough to know that selling you soul for another thousand in your account is rarely a good idea.

I'm in the process of applying for various internship positions in a variety of countries and this is how I see it.

When I see an internship offer that requires 35+ hours of work a week in some commercial firm of one sort or another and is not paid for I'm not thinking "oh my word they won't pay me! how awful of them!" I rather think "So... They expect me to work more or less as much as they average employee. Let's assume I will be especially enthusiastic (as it happens) and do  more than I would have otherwise. And they don't want to pay me for all the effort."

I think it is a simple matter of respect. I work for you, so I should be paid. I'm not a slave or something, but a normal human being wanting to gain some experience. And my work should be respected. Simple as that.