12/12/2009
The hurly burly of Chicago, the frigid temperatures did not keep this intrepid group of Culver-Stockton students from experiencing a plethora of intellectual/cultural experiences ranging from one of the five daily Muslim prayers to the urgently needed message of Reza Aslan to the incredible collection of the world's art at the Chicago Art Institute to the stirring strains of Mozart, Haydn, Telemann and Strauss in an evening at the Chicago Symphony. (I think the young people were completely entranced!) That in itself could have soothed a weary traveler, but remember: we are an intrepid few looking for more questions and perhaps an occasional flight of "maybe we should try this on for a solution!"
Fred, our docent at the Spertus Museum, is an American Jew who stubbornly kept asking us: "What does this mean to you?" Leading us through an impressive array of Judaica, Fred reminded us of Reinhold Niebuhr's cry: "First they came for_______ and I did nothing>' Once again, a heartfelt plea for us to recognize our responsibilities as world citizens. A stunning reminder from an 80 year old survivor of the Holocaust.
Our day at the Art Institute began with the Chinese Buddha (very "buff" and intellectual) and proceeded through an understanding of the Japanese boatsu (Buddhist gods) to the head of Bodhisatton to the Hyber Pass to the Buddha Shakyamuni Meditating on the Indrashala Cave and Buddha Dipankara. We compared the Buddha of India and China with that of other Buddhist areas of the world and arrived at Vishnu Measuring the Universe in Three Strides!
Observations of Japanese and Chinese culture to Southeast Asian Khmer Kingdom (600 years...Angkor Wat) was much too short as we moved on to the French Impressionists and an Art Search in the new Modern American Gallery where students identified some of their favorites!
Time is running short on this computer so I will simply say that this has been a wonderfully inspiring trip; I am so very proud of this group of Culver students and look forward to more thinking.
Posted at 10:00 AM by Terry Sherer