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"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost's exemplary poem, "The Road Not Taken," often serves as the thought provoking nudge many seekers sense when taking one path in lieu of another. The poem is not so much a road map, but more of an explanation for what someone feels when making a life-changing choice. Standing at the place of choice, the bittersweet truth is that we step onto one path knowing we are stepping away from another. It's a little like life's game of hokey pokey - putting one foot in and taking one foot out.  Four world travelers recently graced the stage at People's Light and Theatre Company (PLTC) in Malvern to share why and how the roads they opted to travel on have taken them into worlds they thought were unimaginable. PLTC paired the free event as the last of three community pieces to their world premiere production, "Fallow" by Ken Lin. In the play, a grieving mother (played by MB Scallen) unintentionally becomes the seeker her "beamish boy" son (played by George Olesky) was before his cruel murder. The mother returns to California to meet the migrant field hands he worked with and goes to the jails where his murderers have been sentenced. The emotional journey opens uncomfortable opportunities for the mother as she finds herself choosing to move in directions she could not fathom before her son's death. These choices provided the stimulus to the post-show discussion at PLTC.  Each participant shared a common leap from one path to another, though they would probably say instead of leaping, they listened. In moments of aching clarity, these individuals described why they made significant life changes to help others. Tricia Neale who left the Mayo Clinic as a supervisor in the Orthopedic Biomechanics lab felt her calling while she doled out mashed potatoes on a mission trip to New York City. "I was overwhelmed with the knowledge that I needed to do something different," she said. She and her husband moved to Philadelphia in 2007 where she works as Associate Pastor at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church and as Executive Director of Feast of Justice which feeds 1600 families. "I feel more fulfilled now because everyday I can say this is exactly what I am meant to do," she added. http://www.feastofjustice.org/  Michaelanne Harriman stayed the course in the world of art when she reconstructed her life's work from painting sets in suburban Malvern to working in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia, creating community art projects through the Ayuda Community Center. Direct contact with community members became her focus so, in her words, she could be "the hands and feet of Christ, so our faith looks like something." Her neighborhood has no shortage of heartache. The artist is undaunted. "My heart is broken more than ever in my life but seeing the brokenness is something I am thankful for," she powerfully added. Harriman runs an art center and hosts workshops as well as coordinates temporary and permanent neighborhood art installations alongside her neighbors. http://www.ayudacc.org/
Aldo Magazzeni sees his full circle life as pieces collected from his impoverished childhood in Italy, his education in America, and his eventual creation of the Traveling Mercies non-profit foundation to "help the diverse needs of those suffering throughout the world." Along with helping provide water systems and sustainable farming projects, Magazzeni, with Traveling Mercies members, sees no borders wherever need exists. He only sees opportunities to serve. Each project puts him in front of the poverty of his childhood and this signpost invigorates him to move forward and serve the world. http://www.travelingmercies.org/ An avid photographer, he has compiled a series of photographs some of which were displayed in the PLTC lobby. They honor those his foundation has touched. "The photos give a voice, not to me or to the photo, but to the people...to record a relationship and an experience with the people I was meeting," he stated.  Entering the bleak, inhumane world of human trafficking and forced sex trade could not have been more of an about face for someone who saw herself as "a mom," but Carol Metzker's decision to become an advocate for the 27 million voiceless victims throughout the world came swiftly in 2004 as she stood face to face with Indian girls preyed upon by the slave trade. "Girls the same age as my daughter were being sold into lives of despair," she softly shared. "I thought, 'I can either burn this from my memory or do something to stop this,'" the writer stated as she shook her head. "The choice was obvious." The audience felt the tonnage of despair as Metzker described conditions that are not only oceans away but also exist within Chester County, PA. Illiteracy, extreme poverty, natural disasters and living with no options are the ingredients that feed the human trafficking pipeline. Metzker added that the work done by her fellow panelists directly closes the flow of despair and will eventually eliminate the scourge. http://ftsblog.net/
All four of the speakers feel hope on their life paths because they see the beauty within those being helped. Michaelanne Harriman expressed it best when she said, "There's an intense beauty in life in the middle of the ashes. When we are reeling from tragedies, the kids always show me how to dance in the middle of it. Where there is beauty in the ashes, there's hope." This hope was the basis for a community art project directed by Harriman called "Rise" which gave visual form to Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." The poem's assertion floats seamlessly across the work of all four social justice participants as they believe the only direction for change is up. "Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like Hopes springing high, Still l'll rise." Link to People's Light and Theater Company, Malvern PA. http://peopleslight.org/ Link to "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536 Link to "I Rise" by Maya Angelou http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175742 |
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Road Not Taken
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