Lewisburg & Cookies

We were just in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania which is in the middle of the state. We were told before arriving that “there’s Pittsburgh, there’s Philadelphia, and then there’s Alabama inbetween.” We checked that statement with the locals while we were there and they actually agreed.

We missed the beautiful leaves by two weeks but there was still some orange and bright yellow to be seen. One thing I really appreciate in the trees that are bare and transparent with all the leaves gone, is that I get to see the nests the birds were using. I get to see where they built them, how they constructed them, admire their engineering of renewable resources and marvel at the art in the architecture. When such natural amazement is revealed, I like to pause and just appreciate. I felt this way in the vulnerability that Lewisburg residents and Bucknell University students showed us during our brief visit.

One of the first things we did at Bucknell was speak at a freshman foundations Social Justice class taught by a Ph.D. in Psychology. It was a small in number class but a high IQ composition. All but two of the students were female. Where are the guys? It’s not Home Economics, it’s social justice, where are the males?
What does that class’ composition say at a macro level? Or is it a fluke?

Nevertheless, the professor was very trusting of us and we reassured her Luane and I had taught at the University level for eight years and we’d behave as guest speakers. We even put her through a little experiment along with the class and she participated fully. The students were engaged, they seemed challenged, and got a chance to talk and look at a subject matter that is at the surface but rarely discussed openly and in such a safe space. We love doing classes so it was a real thrill to be able to work with this “next generation”.

The screening took place at the Campus theatre in downtown Lewisburg, which is an independently owned non-profit, kept in tact with its original 1941 art deco décor and ambiance. I’m told by Mary the amazingly cool manager that it’s one of twelve single screen theatres still running. We were proud to have screened there. It was so beautiful, you have to see it for yourself…check out their website at http://www.campustheatre.org. We got a tour up in the projector room and saw all this original equipment, firedoors and just how many miles of film makes up a movie. We also got to hear from Chris the local comedian projectionist, several funny projectionist stories of films spliced together out of order and therefore run out of sequence…the character’s eating, now he’s not, oh! He’s eating again…or still? I love hearing the behind the firedoor stories.

The screening went flawlessly, looked beautiful on the huge screen in 16:9 and sounded awesome. We had a great crowd who asked lots of questions coming from all kinds of different perspectives and experiences, and all there to learn, appreciate and exercise compassion….on themselves and each other.

We met people who are starting to deal with the struggle and the hard times that may lie ahead. We met people who didn't grow up in a religious home and found the movie talking to them in a way that helped them see that they can have a relationship with God even if organized religion is not for them. We also met a mom who came because she has two pre-adolescents and attends a conservative Christian church, wanting to know how she can help make room for her kids to let them find out who they are attracted to without getting stuck on the assumption they are both heterosexual. There’s more to be said on this subject but I’ll keep that for another blog entry.

In essence, we loved the people and the place of Lewisburg. It's a town where you can leave your car unlocked and it's still there when you return - in tact. I even saw someone leave their laptop case with the laptop in the coat check area of the eating commons. It was refreshing to see trust still existing in a community. Finally, I try to eat a chocolate chip cookie locally made at every place we go to and I got to have two this time...so the trip was a great success.