Learned that Donald Miller is having fans read his first 3 chapters of his new book. He is wanting feedback. Haven't gotten a chance to read it yet but I definitely will. Here is the link:
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Born into Brothels
It never ceases to amaze me how much one person can do to change the world. I watched Born in Brothels last night. It is a documentary of children growing up in Calcutta's red light district. The movie is unique in that it is told through the eyes of the children. Photographer, Zana Briski, grows to love and care of a group of young children while working in the brothels of Calcutta. She begins to teach them how to use cameras and take pictures. Some of these kids are amazing young photographers. Using only the tools she had, along with a deep love and willingness to change these young people's lives, Zana made a huge difference. I love this story and these pictures are incredible. Deeply moving and worth the attention it has recieved.
Educated thinker
I have never been one to take things at face value. I don't know where this comes from. I am sure it comes from various places and people in my life. For whatever reason I was always the one that had to know __________ (fill in the blank) for myself. Like all things, this has it's positives and negatives. Somethings are much better experience through the stories and books of others. Other things, like that of thinking, should be experienced first hand.
I have always took it for granted that others believe this, but time and time again I am reminded how stupid humans are (myself included). We want the easy way out. We want to be spoon fed and gain our knowledge through osmosis instead of doing the hard and messy work of finding truth out for ourselves. Today I was reminded of this sad reality through reading Jonathan Brink's blog. http://jonathanbrink.com/2009/06/03/just-tell-me-how-to-think/
I have always took it for granted that others believe this, but time and time again I am reminded how stupid humans are (myself included). We want the easy way out. We want to be spoon fed and gain our knowledge through osmosis instead of doing the hard and messy work of finding truth out for ourselves. Today I was reminded of this sad reality through reading Jonathan Brink's blog. http://jonathanbrink.com/2009/06/03/just-tell-me-how-to-think/
I am thankful that more often than not, I dig through the muck and seek out truth for myself. I used to be the one in Jonathan's story that hung on every word of others I thought to be trust worthy. I used to eat up what my pastor or the current Christian writer thought. Filing away fact after fact, waiting for the right opportunity to bring it out of the bag and wow my Christian friends. I was known as the smart one, the one that knew the Bible. The spiritual one that could recommend you this book or that book, as if I had actually read them. Which I didn't. I didn't read much of anything in those days. I looked at Christianity as a competition of who knew the most and was up on the latest books and happenings within the Christian subculture. Now people like that, like I was, make me sad. I am close with one like that right now and it drives me nuts. I keep wanting to scream, "I don't care what you heard or what your pastor thinks, I want to know what you think!" But I only know that will drive him further away and deeper into his pastor's care.
Today I like to think of myself not a free thinker, though I know many who would accuse me of that, but of being an educated thinker. I am among those that ask "why", instead of those that "what". Instead of being those that ask what they want to be when they grow up, I am the few that ask why do you care or why does it matter. I feel that there are more important questions that need to be answered before one can spend their time on what I feel are trivial matters. But I digress.
I no longer take what I hear and assume that it is true. I evaluate it. I try it out. I see if it holds water. I talk and walk with those that hold that position or those that don't. I see it from all angles possible and then and only then do I begin to assume or reject it for myself.
A long process? Oh yes. Somethings have taken me years to work through and I feel that I have not even touched the surface. But other things I feel I have begun to understand quite well.
Though the road is tough and long, at times terribly long, I encourage others on this road of thinking for themselves to keep one foot in front of the other.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Writing for me
This week is a milestone in this adventure of blogging. I have doubled my readership. That isn't saying a lot, as only growing from 2 followers to 4 followers. However, it has opened my eyes to the reasons I am writing this blog. I wish to take the words of my friend Dave as I don't think I could be any more eloquent as he. "It's me... honestly, in word and thought. my heart pour on virtual paper, the canvas of the computer monitor. Not for show or kudos, but honesty and therapy, for me and maybe for you. I write from a different style and mind than most but I choose each word with care and love to write." I do wish to add to please be careful with my thoughts. It is me, raw and uncensored. I hold nothing back and I hope that you would do the same. Except that for thought to continue it needs freedom and trust. Freedom to have an avenue to express the thoughts and trust that they will be accepted. Or if not accepted at least validated for what they are. One man's thoughts and fears exposed for the world to see. I invite you to read and grow.
Homeless guy in a Jesus T-shirt....lunch is on me
Doing some reading of blogs today. Haven't taken the time to catch up on others blogs in months and feeling behind. Wanted to highlight this one by one of my dear friends. http://dcbony.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-should-church-be-doing.html
Thank you Dave, and Don for reminding me of what I should be doing. I needed to hear those words. I needed to be reminded that there is much work that I have been called to do. That the church has been called to do.
I want to apologize to the guy in the Jesus shirt that ran into me the other day at the bus stop. He offered his name, and I am ashamed to say that I didn't catch it. Along with his name he asked if I could spare some money as he was hungry and homeless and trying to get something to eat at the hospital. I was impatient and wondering where the bus was and wasn't in the mood to help this man. I too was hungry, I too was in need. So, in my selfishness I brushed him off as if he were an annoying fly that just won't leave you alone.
Homeless guy in the Jesus shirt I am sorry. Deeply sorry.
As soon as you road off on your bike, the bus came and I thought about inviting you over for lunch. It wouldn't have been much, but it would have been offered out of love.
Your shirt convicted me. I trust in that man who you were wearing. But I didn't act like him when you asked me for help. I acted like it wasn't my problem. But it was. Right at that moment you were talking to me. Human to human. I didn't have any money to spare. But I did have some food if you were willing to follow me a few miles to where I was staying. Food that just a few days earlier were purchased on my behalf. How selfish of me to benefit from someones generosity and not share it with others who are in need.
So next time I run into you, homeless guy in a Jesus T-shirt, lunch is on me.
Thank you Dave, and Don for reminding me of what I should be doing. I needed to hear those words. I needed to be reminded that there is much work that I have been called to do. That the church has been called to do.
I want to apologize to the guy in the Jesus shirt that ran into me the other day at the bus stop. He offered his name, and I am ashamed to say that I didn't catch it. Along with his name he asked if I could spare some money as he was hungry and homeless and trying to get something to eat at the hospital. I was impatient and wondering where the bus was and wasn't in the mood to help this man. I too was hungry, I too was in need. So, in my selfishness I brushed him off as if he were an annoying fly that just won't leave you alone.
Homeless guy in the Jesus shirt I am sorry. Deeply sorry.
As soon as you road off on your bike, the bus came and I thought about inviting you over for lunch. It wouldn't have been much, but it would have been offered out of love.
Your shirt convicted me. I trust in that man who you were wearing. But I didn't act like him when you asked me for help. I acted like it wasn't my problem. But it was. Right at that moment you were talking to me. Human to human. I didn't have any money to spare. But I did have some food if you were willing to follow me a few miles to where I was staying. Food that just a few days earlier were purchased on my behalf. How selfish of me to benefit from someones generosity and not share it with others who are in need.
So next time I run into you, homeless guy in a Jesus T-shirt, lunch is on me.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
What is gold?
Word of caution: do not, I repeat DO NOT, watch Pursuit of Happiness after watching Into the Wild. The contrast is too much, too unbearable. But that is what I did a few months ago, and it made my mind go wild and I lamented the state of society.
While I love and adore the love and sacrifice Will Smith's character made for his son, I abhor the system that forced him into it. The system that caused him to believed in order to pursue happiness, one must submit to the 9 to 5 grind. Yes, he had to feed his son, and find housing, those are necessities. However I am confused in understanding how we as a society have so narrowly defined the only way to receive those things (food, housing, etc.) as having a career.
Now I want to add a clarify what I mean when I say career. There is nothing wrong with contributing to the good of society. Though I am sure that there would be thousands if not millions of opinions on what the good of society is. However, this in itself is not a career. I agree with Chris McCandless that a career is nothing more than a 20th Century invention. I also agree with his conclusion in submitting to this invention, "I don't want one". This is not to say that I don't want to work. Work is good, healthy. It provides a sense of accomplishment. It is how to get from A to B. It is the energy dispersed in finishing, or even starting, anything we put our hands to. You want to grow a garden? You prepare the ground, plant the seeds, add fertilizer, tend to the garden, and harvest the crop. All this is work.
While there are similarities between the two, there are also vast differences. Both provide rewards. Careers provide you with money, while work provides you with whatever the work itself produces. As in the example of a garden, the work would produce food. However, a career is different from work in that there is no correlation between the reward and the energy dispersed. One can spend their whole lives in a factory putting together cars and at the end of it all they will never reap a car. The input doesn't contribute to the output. And while yes, they do get a paycheck, which they can trade for a car, there is nothing that guarantees the time and energy exerted in building the car is the same as the selling price of the car for the one that help build it.
Am I proposing a bartering system? Possibly? I am not sure. While I am not sure the monetary system that we have created is the answer, I am not all to certain the bartering system of old is the way either. Though I do tend to lean that way. I am just stating that I feel there should be a equal dollar for dollar relationship between what one gives and receives.
However, this is where we run into problems. What is a dollar? It used to be a representation to the amount of gold our country had, though not so much anymore. But if we stick to that, then we beg the question, what is gold? What is gold other than a shinny rock someone a long time ago thought was pretty? Granted it is rare, and does hold to some practical purposes. But it's most important factor is that it is considered valuable. By who? For what? Jewelry? Ornamentation? When will we get to a place where we start appealing to other emotions besides greed?
We can and have. Take for example museums. For the sake of history and preserving the ancient world, we preserve gold and other artifacts. We allow gold that is already shaped by people who went before us who wouldn't care if we used it for other purposes to sit quietly on display. If we appeal to this desire of knowing our past, can we also appeal to the desire of knowing our future or having our future know us?
We apply worth to something based on our current situation. Take for example a $1 burger at the local Burger King. Two people are in line, one hasn't eaten in weeks, the other is your typical fat American. Though they are both paying the same $1, to which is the burger worth more? And if you add into the equation the probability of the one that hasn't eaten in two weeks may only have a few dollars while the other one is among the riches people in the world by merely having a bank account and a car, who is paying more for the $1 burger? Right, the one who needs it more and has placed higher worth on the burger.
I am reminded of a story of Alexander the Great. He was asked if he were dying of thirst in the desert what would he give for a glass of water. He replied he would give his whole kingdom for a glass of water. To this the man answered, why he was traveling so far for a glass of water.
I want to contribute to society and feel that I may in many ways already. I just am not yet ready to buy into what I perceive to be lies. Or if not lies, then foolish attempts to create a life. Take for instance the really, really free markets that are sprouting up all over the nation. I was part of the one here in Lansing back in April and plan on being a part of the one coming up later this month. An ingenious way to give to people and build community.
While I love and adore the love and sacrifice Will Smith's character made for his son, I abhor the system that forced him into it. The system that caused him to believed in order to pursue happiness, one must submit to the 9 to 5 grind. Yes, he had to feed his son, and find housing, those are necessities. However I am confused in understanding how we as a society have so narrowly defined the only way to receive those things (food, housing, etc.) as having a career.
Now I want to add a clarify what I mean when I say career. There is nothing wrong with contributing to the good of society. Though I am sure that there would be thousands if not millions of opinions on what the good of society is. However, this in itself is not a career. I agree with Chris McCandless that a career is nothing more than a 20th Century invention. I also agree with his conclusion in submitting to this invention, "I don't want one". This is not to say that I don't want to work. Work is good, healthy. It provides a sense of accomplishment. It is how to get from A to B. It is the energy dispersed in finishing, or even starting, anything we put our hands to. You want to grow a garden? You prepare the ground, plant the seeds, add fertilizer, tend to the garden, and harvest the crop. All this is work.
While there are similarities between the two, there are also vast differences. Both provide rewards. Careers provide you with money, while work provides you with whatever the work itself produces. As in the example of a garden, the work would produce food. However, a career is different from work in that there is no correlation between the reward and the energy dispersed. One can spend their whole lives in a factory putting together cars and at the end of it all they will never reap a car. The input doesn't contribute to the output. And while yes, they do get a paycheck, which they can trade for a car, there is nothing that guarantees the time and energy exerted in building the car is the same as the selling price of the car for the one that help build it.
Am I proposing a bartering system? Possibly? I am not sure. While I am not sure the monetary system that we have created is the answer, I am not all to certain the bartering system of old is the way either. Though I do tend to lean that way. I am just stating that I feel there should be a equal dollar for dollar relationship between what one gives and receives.
However, this is where we run into problems. What is a dollar? It used to be a representation to the amount of gold our country had, though not so much anymore. But if we stick to that, then we beg the question, what is gold? What is gold other than a shinny rock someone a long time ago thought was pretty? Granted it is rare, and does hold to some practical purposes. But it's most important factor is that it is considered valuable. By who? For what? Jewelry? Ornamentation? When will we get to a place where we start appealing to other emotions besides greed?
We can and have. Take for example museums. For the sake of history and preserving the ancient world, we preserve gold and other artifacts. We allow gold that is already shaped by people who went before us who wouldn't care if we used it for other purposes to sit quietly on display. If we appeal to this desire of knowing our past, can we also appeal to the desire of knowing our future or having our future know us?
We apply worth to something based on our current situation. Take for example a $1 burger at the local Burger King. Two people are in line, one hasn't eaten in weeks, the other is your typical fat American. Though they are both paying the same $1, to which is the burger worth more? And if you add into the equation the probability of the one that hasn't eaten in two weeks may only have a few dollars while the other one is among the riches people in the world by merely having a bank account and a car, who is paying more for the $1 burger? Right, the one who needs it more and has placed higher worth on the burger.
I am reminded of a story of Alexander the Great. He was asked if he were dying of thirst in the desert what would he give for a glass of water. He replied he would give his whole kingdom for a glass of water. To this the man answered, why he was traveling so far for a glass of water.
I want to contribute to society and feel that I may in many ways already. I just am not yet ready to buy into what I perceive to be lies. Or if not lies, then foolish attempts to create a life. Take for instance the really, really free markets that are sprouting up all over the nation. I was part of the one here in Lansing back in April and plan on being a part of the one coming up later this month. An ingenious way to give to people and build community.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Walking on water
I am living out a real life parable of my favorite story, that of Jesus walking on water. My favorite part of the story isn't that Jesus walked on water, but that Peter also did. Though Jesus was fully human, he was an anomaly in that he also was fully God, so to me it isn't all that spectacular that he was able to walk on water. What blows my mind about this story is that Peter, an average fisherman, not only desired to join Jesus in this adventure but that he did. However short lived this adventure was, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water. That amazes me.
It also amazes me when God invites me to do the same. I have an opportunity for an internship/mission trip in Seattle for part of the summer. However, I have no resources to get there. Kind of reminds me of a few summers ago when I had this internship waiting for me in Iowa and no money for gas. From out of no where I get an email from a local pastor I have never met requesting landscaping help for a couple of weeks. The pay was the exact amount I needed for gas. God never ceases to amaze me.
My first week of summer was trying. No money, no job, no food. Worry and fear quickly closed in around me as I desperately wondered how I was going to live. Then I quieted myself and was reminded of a story from my favorite author, James Alexander Langteaux. James was being called out to New Zealand but had yet to prepare to go. When he questioned God on why things were not progressing God called him on that. It was like God was saying, "I called you to move to New Zealand, yet everything in your life is geared toward staying. Do you trust me?" When James began to live like he was moving and preparing for the move, God showed up and worked the details out in ways that only he can.
I took that word to heart. Prepare to go to Seattle. I am staring a mountain in the face and am shaking in fear. But I am hearing the word Go. Every time I talk with pastor Rich from Seattle I start to see the mountain for what it really is, an ant hill. Things look different when I look through the lens of faith. But when I look at my resources and trust in my own power to get myself to Seattle things look bleak.
I all but gave up. I started looking for work and even withing one week was able to schedule an interview. I began to feel better about staying in Lansing and working for the summer. Lord knows I need the cash. But then this word came, "prepare". Do I trust God to get me out to Seattle and take care of me? He put this whole thing together out of thin air. Is he going to give up on me now? Am I going to give up on him?
I have quit looking for work and am spending my time preparing to go to Seattle. God reminded me of a precedent years ago when I was moving. As a young Christian, I was scared of the idea of moving and not having a body of believers to call family. I prayed that I would only move if God brought me to a church first. In God's last minute fashion, he lead me to a church the weekend before I was to move at a conference I was attending. My seat was a few rows back from a church near where I was moving. In my excitement I jumped down and almost tackled a girl, but was forgiven when I explained how God was working. God brought this story to mind as he is wanting this to be a precedent for future moves in my life.
I am looking at going to graduate school in Seattle next year. This summer then for me, is a time of scouting the city and meeting people. It is a time of building relationships and finding a group of believers in which I can call family and create a home. That way when I move out there next year for school, the transition isn't so rough. I already am familiar with the city and the people.
I understand what God is saying, but I am still full of doubt. I joked with a friend who asked whether I was going out to Seattle, saying that I might not know whether I was going till I started driving. Kind of like Peter. Stepping out from the comfort of a boat onto raging waters, not knowing if the water will hold him. One foot in front of the other, standing in awe of how he is defying physics, and at the same time, not really caring. Just resting in the joys of the moment. For these few brief steps, Peter was standing on faith, literally. May I do the same, and stand and rejoice in my God.
It also amazes me when God invites me to do the same. I have an opportunity for an internship/mission trip in Seattle for part of the summer. However, I have no resources to get there. Kind of reminds me of a few summers ago when I had this internship waiting for me in Iowa and no money for gas. From out of no where I get an email from a local pastor I have never met requesting landscaping help for a couple of weeks. The pay was the exact amount I needed for gas. God never ceases to amaze me.
My first week of summer was trying. No money, no job, no food. Worry and fear quickly closed in around me as I desperately wondered how I was going to live. Then I quieted myself and was reminded of a story from my favorite author, James Alexander Langteaux. James was being called out to New Zealand but had yet to prepare to go. When he questioned God on why things were not progressing God called him on that. It was like God was saying, "I called you to move to New Zealand, yet everything in your life is geared toward staying. Do you trust me?" When James began to live like he was moving and preparing for the move, God showed up and worked the details out in ways that only he can.
I took that word to heart. Prepare to go to Seattle. I am staring a mountain in the face and am shaking in fear. But I am hearing the word Go. Every time I talk with pastor Rich from Seattle I start to see the mountain for what it really is, an ant hill. Things look different when I look through the lens of faith. But when I look at my resources and trust in my own power to get myself to Seattle things look bleak.
I all but gave up. I started looking for work and even withing one week was able to schedule an interview. I began to feel better about staying in Lansing and working for the summer. Lord knows I need the cash. But then this word came, "prepare". Do I trust God to get me out to Seattle and take care of me? He put this whole thing together out of thin air. Is he going to give up on me now? Am I going to give up on him?
I have quit looking for work and am spending my time preparing to go to Seattle. God reminded me of a precedent years ago when I was moving. As a young Christian, I was scared of the idea of moving and not having a body of believers to call family. I prayed that I would only move if God brought me to a church first. In God's last minute fashion, he lead me to a church the weekend before I was to move at a conference I was attending. My seat was a few rows back from a church near where I was moving. In my excitement I jumped down and almost tackled a girl, but was forgiven when I explained how God was working. God brought this story to mind as he is wanting this to be a precedent for future moves in my life.
I am looking at going to graduate school in Seattle next year. This summer then for me, is a time of scouting the city and meeting people. It is a time of building relationships and finding a group of believers in which I can call family and create a home. That way when I move out there next year for school, the transition isn't so rough. I already am familiar with the city and the people.
I understand what God is saying, but I am still full of doubt. I joked with a friend who asked whether I was going out to Seattle, saying that I might not know whether I was going till I started driving. Kind of like Peter. Stepping out from the comfort of a boat onto raging waters, not knowing if the water will hold him. One foot in front of the other, standing in awe of how he is defying physics, and at the same time, not really caring. Just resting in the joys of the moment. For these few brief steps, Peter was standing on faith, literally. May I do the same, and stand and rejoice in my God.
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