June 29 to July 3, Brussels

***updated

• I went to Brussels to participate in an event called “Serve the City.” It’s another expression of faith, service, and community I was interested in checking out. It’s an international thing that started in Brussels originally. One day I ended up deep cleaning a walk-in freezer at a Catholic home for the elderly. Another day, I did a bunch of demo work at the home of a local lady who’s come into some hard times. She had recently bought a house that’s in terrible shape after a rough divorce. (She’s a recent cancer survivor, single mother of 3 kids- all of which are special needs kids on the the autism spectrum, and recently divorced from a guy who also had some significant mental and emotional disability.) I guess the thing that sticks with me is the attitude and demeanor of the folks doing the volunteering work. It’s a really diverse group of people involved, and everyone is ostensibly there to volunteer and do work to help people in Brussels. Everyone is getting good work done, so there’s that… the outcomes are indisputably good and productive. The thing is… there’s something about the intention or motivation for service that matters. It’s not a binary thing; motivations can be a complicated thing. However… to me there’s a major difference between the folks who are serving and doing good things for the sake of doing the good thing, and those who are doing it either out of obligation, or as a part of a transaction. As I said before… the outcomes are equally good. But there’s a moral goodness and a relational kind of authenticity to the people who just do the good thing because they want to- in contrast there’s something less good about the people who are doing it ’cause a rule told them they had to, or ’cause there’s some cosmic transaction or bargain being made, or there’s some expectation for something from the recipients of service… even if it’s just gratitude or recognition. (This is all the same thread following from my thoughts on charity in Marrakesh.) That being said, it’s still incredibly inspiring to be part of a massive act of service to a community in need.
• I stayed in an area where the news says I’m not supposed to go- in Molenbeek. When I told a few other Americans it got some raised eyebrows. It’s supposed to be this hive of Muslim extremism and violence- at least that’s what the news would generally lead you to believe. I lived with an Arab couple there- and it’s actually a pretty nice, normal neighborhood. And people there are… pretty nice and pretty normal. Within reason of course… traveling to places like that provide not only greater opportunities to grow and learn, but also make for much better stories. There’s just not much to learn, and there’s no story to be made when if you travel to the familiar, predictable and safe…
• The Musical Instrument Museum of Brussels is really cool and incredibly well done. It’s in a beautiful building. And the audio guide is just incredible. There are recordings of hundreds of instruments of every imaginable form, and representing hundreds of cultures over thousands of years. It’s pretty mind blowing.