Meaning Making Among Older People in the Bible Belt in The Netherlands

In this ethnographic study, we examine how older Calvinist Protestants in a conservative rural area of the Netherlands experience “meaning in life.” We aim to contribute to current research on meaning in life within social and religious contexts. Here, we specify the concept of meaning in life as connectedness. The latter is broadly interpreted as an overarching conceptual component of existential meaning. Indeed, connectedness appears to be of paramount importance in these older villagers’ experiences of meaning in life. All three authors of this paper collaborated during fieldwork. We analyzed documents such as local newspapers, websites, and (church) newsletters. We visited farms and attended local meetings and gatherings such as church- and community- services, and we conducted qualitative interviews with 29 people. The outcomes of our research point to three forms of connectedness: (1) social connectedness; (2) physical connectedness; and (3) transcendent connectedness.

Aktualisasi Kasih Allah bagi Sesama: Implementasi Pemikiran dan Praktik Pendidikan Kristiani Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi dalam Konteks Pendidikan Karakter dan Nilai

Education is sometimes understood as an attempt to share knowledge only. Students are only prepared to achieve the future in material aspects without realizing the importance of sharing life with others through good behavior. Knowledge and skills as well as knowing and feeling God's presence in life together in the family, school, church, and community need to be paid attention to and practiced. One of the participations is related to this view by rewriting the thoughts of a Christian education expert regarding the concepts and methods of learning in the implementation of education. This article discusses the participation of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Christian education learning, with the aim of preparing and developing basic theological and psychological concepts so that the nature and objectives of learning are implemented in their context. The research method is qualitative with research procedures that make use of descriptive data. After going through a critical study, the results of this article are used as a rationale in practicing Christian education learning for the lives of the people.AbstrakPendidikan terkadang dipahami sebagai usaha untuk membagikan pengetahuan saja. Peserta didik hanya dipersiapkan untuk mencapai masa depan dalam aspek materi saja tanpa kesadaran pentingnya hidup berbagi dengan sesama melalui perilaku yang baik. Pengetahuan dan keterampilan serta mengenal dan merasakan kehadiran Allah dalam kehidupan bersama baik di keluarga, sekolah, gereja dan masyarakat perlu diperha-tikan dan dipraktikkan. Salah satu partisipasi yang dilakukan berhubungan dengan pandangan ini dengan menuliskan kembali pemikiran seorang ahli pendidikan Kristia-ni mengenai konsep dan metode pembelajaran dalam pelaksanaan pendidikan. Artikel ini untuk membahas partisipasi Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi dalam pembelajaran pen-didikan Kristiani, dengan tujuan mempersiapkan dan membangun konsep dasar teo-logis dan psikologis, sehingga hakikat dan tujuan pembelajaran terimplementasi dalam konteksnya. Metode penelitian adalah kualitatif dengan prosedur riset yang meman-faatkan data deskriptif. Setelah melalui kajian kritis, hasil dari artikel ini digunakan sebagai dasar pemikiran dalam mempraktikkan pembelajaran pendidikan Kristiani bagi kehidupan umat.

“I have a good story”

This chapter demonstrates how asking the question “What is the good life?” leads to different knowledge than asking questions like “How can we generate employment?” or “How can we achieve economic growth?” The chapter offers a deeper look into the lives of four individuals who said they were currently living the good life: an engineer in a high-status job, an artist forging new relationships through his church and community, a low-wage worker in an unusual shoe factory, and a recently unemployed woman starting a small business. The stories offer evidence that the good life does not necessarily depend on employment status. Instead, the good life comes about through complex interactions of social and individual factors, as well as the ways by which people learn to make meaning out of their circumstances. The four individuals shaped concepts of the good life that made sense of their experiences within an antiblack and segregated society. They found themselves in socially embedded economic structures, and spaces where black cultural capital was validated. The fact that they often attributed these circumstances to good fortune should not prevent us from imagining and implementing ways to replicate such structures.

Educator S. N. Bogolyubov and his remarks about the parish schools of the Russian Orthodox Church in the states of New York and Pennsylvania (1962—1968)

The article studies publications of Semyon Nikolayevich Bogolyubov, 1889—1971, an outstanding educator of Russian Abroad. These publications were devoted to his trips to parish schools of the Russian Church Abroad (ROCOR). The educator S. N. Bogolyubov served in the 1960s as Chief Clerk of the Educational Council under Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. In order to maintain effective control over and to improve learning process the teacher visited a few parish schools in 1962—1968. In particular, he visited such famous parishes in the states of New York and Pennsylvania as the Holy Protection Church in Nyack, the Joy of All Who Sorrow Church in Philadelphia, the St. Vladimir Parish of the same city, and the Convent of New Diveyevo in Spring Valley. S. N. Bogolyubov reflected some results of his trips in reports which were published by the Orthodox Russia journal, the print organ of the ROCOR St. Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. Reading and analysis of the Bogolyubov publications give researcher an opportunity to reconstruct the little-known activities of this activist of Church and community, to show the daily work of the parish schools, to identify challenges and achievements that the parish institutions of educations had, to get to know the features of the most successful school teachers. The above issues have not yet been addressed in the studies of Russian historians and specialists on history of intelligentsia. That is why this article seems relevant. The author used methods of criticism of historical source as well as methods of induction and deduction. The author came to the conclusion that the parish schools of New York and Pennsylvania performed an important function, namely, they conserved and supported Russian ethnic and religious identity among Russian youth. During the trips to schools, the teacher opened and published the most successful methods of education. Hierarchs of the Church Abroad highly appreciated the activities of the teacher and recommended that parishes make wide use of pedagogical methods of Bogolyubov.

Sociocultural Factors Associated with Awareness of Palliative Care and Advanced Care Planning among Asian Populations

Objective: Underutilization of palliative care (PC) among racial/ethnic minorities re­mains consistent despite projected demand. The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge of palliative care and advanced care planning (ACP) and potential variations among subgroups of Asian Americans.Design: A survey was conducted to collect information about awareness, knowledge, and perspective of PC and ACP in the southwestern region of the United States, from October 2018 to February 2019. A total of 212 surveys were collected from the general public at such places as health fairs, New Year celebration events, church, and community centers; 154 surveys were included in the descriptive and multivariate data analysis.Results: About 46.1% and 40.3% partici­pants reported having heard of palliative care and advanced care planning, respec­tively. The average score of the Knowledge of Care Options Instrument (KOCO) was 6.03 out of 11 and the average score of the Palliative Care Knowledge Scale (PaCKS) was 4.38 out of 13. Among those who have heard of PC, both Chinese (odds ratio (OR) .19 [CI, .05, .73]) and Vietnamese (.22 [.06, .84]) were less likely to have heard of pal­liative care compared with Filipinos (1.00). Among those who have ever heard of advanced care planning, age (.60 [.43, .84]) was negatively and education level (1.91 [1.18, 3.08]) was positively associated with awareness about advanced care planning. The majority of survey participants preferred family members to serve as their power attorneys.Conclusion: The low levels of palliative care and advanced care planning awareness and knowledge in the diverse Asian groups liv­ing in the United States raise concerns and shed light on the critical need for cultur­ally appropriate education programs. Ethn Dis. 2020;30(3):459-468; doi:10.18865/ed.30.3.459

PEMBENTUKAN MORALITAS SISWA

Morality or morality is the doctrine of the Good, the bad that is generally accepted concerning deeds, attitudes, and obligations. SMP Negeri 6 Ambon is a school in the category of excellent schools but there are still students who have moral not good at communicating and behave with teachers and friends such as: like to remove the words of diatribe or in the local language Called Bamaki, the attitude and intonation of the voice of the students, in speaking with the teacher in the school is not polite, anyone uploading pornographic pictures of even pornographic videos, it is very bad impact on the moral and future of the students. The purpose of this writing is to know and give good understanding to the school, parents, church, to the moral reality of SMP Negeri 6 Ambon, and the importance of the role of teachers in schools, parents, and the church in shaping Good student moral. In this study using Rahmad's theory. This research uses a qualitative approach. And the method used in this research is qualitative. Morality or morality is the doctrine of the Good, the bad that is generally accepted concerning deeds, attitudes, and obligations. SMP Negeri 6 Ambon is a school in the category of excellent schools but there are still students who have moral not good at communicating and behave with teachers and friends such as: like to remove the words of diatribe or in the local language Called Bamaki, the attitude and intonation of the voice of the students, in speaking with the teacher in the school is not polite, anyone uploading pornographic pictures of even pornographic videos, it is very bad impact on the moral and future of the students. The purpose of this writing is to know and give good understanding to the school, parents, church, to the moral reality of SMP Negeri 6 Ambon, and the importance of the role of teachers in schools, parents, and the church in shaping Good student moral. In this study using Rahmad's theory. This research uses a qualitative approach. And the method used in this research is qualitative. From the research shows that, the establishment of student morality is an effort made by certain parties in shaping the moral of poor students into good moral. Another fact that the authors find is, that the school in the category (the Superior school) is not all students who are in the school institution, have good morality, that is in accordance with the vision and mission or purpose of the school institution. The morality of a good student can not be seen from the intelligence and achievements that the students have because, the savvy student is not necessarily moral either. Responsibility to form the moral of students is not only done by teachers, but parents, church and community also involved in carrying out his role. But the fact shows that parents, churches and communities are not maximized in carrying out their role in regards to the intended thing.Keyword: student morality

The Absence of Presence and the Presence of Absence: Social Distancing, Sacraments, and the Virtual Religious Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The response of churches to the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic invites a closer examination of the relationships between virtual and embodied religious communities during a time of social distancing. The speed and the scale of the closure of church buildings during Easter 2020 sheds light upon the multiplicity of practical, emotional, and spiritual responses to a relationship between church and people that is increasingly dominated by online interactions. Such a seismic shift in social culture opens up the possibility and challenges of a new understanding of belonging and participation in a religious community. Given its liturgical, pastoral, and sacramental significance, Easter 2020 was a highly charged moment for the relationship between the Christian churches and the faithful, and between religious worship and social media. In the shift from embodied community to virtual congregation that followed, the material absence of physical presence in collective worship was striking, as was the psychological presence of that absence. This paper analyses different understandings of religion, church, and community in the period of a pandemic, and argues for the value of an approach that situates the debates spawned in the context of historical precedent, personal experience, and theoretical approaches to networks, communities, religion, and social media.