What to blab about today? Obama's speech on why we went into Libya? Nah, I'm honestly too torn about whether we should be putting our dog in the fight or not. New report that a fractional increase in consumer spending was primarily spent on increased gas and energy costs? No, trying to stay a little happier than that for a while. My youngest child's upcoming 5th birthday and it's reverberations? See previous answer :).
How about simplicity? I finally finished Max Lucado's Traveling Light, and fact that the whole book is built off of the 23rd Psalm reminded me that it is the simplest things that really reach us best. Think about some of the most enduring praise and worship songs. Amazing Grace, I Can Only Imagine, God Of Wonders all come to mind as packing huge amounts of encouragement, praise and theology into very tight packages. The same goes for Bible verses and stories. Again, think about the most familiar ones, like the aforementioned 23rs Psalm, the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego, and most of Jesus' parables. Again, we find a lot in these small packages.
"OK, great, so there's a lot for the new believer in these songs and verses, what does that mean to us more seasoned Christians?" Glad you asked. Just because something is simple doesn't mean that it can't have a number of layers. Remember that tale of Rack, Shack, and Benny? When we learned it in Sunday School, do you remember hearing, really hearing that line "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”(Dan. 3:17,18, emphasis mine) Think about Jesus washing His disciple's feet at the Last Supper. As we grow in knowledge of the society an the times, it goes from a simple act of humility to realizing that not only did these men have filthy feet from walking on dirt roads all day long, but that for that reason, foot washing was the bottom man on the totem pole's job. What did that additional information do to your understanding of that action?
Have you slipped into a humdrum? Have you overloaded on theological disseminations? Are you just searching for that next step in maturation? Look back to those simple things. The kid's choruses you sang, the old hymns you rolled your eyes at as all the old people sang, ;) the parables and histories you think you know by heart, revisit those. Look at them through new eyes and listen through new ears. Enjoy their messages. Add your knowledge and experiences to them. You will be amazed at what you can find.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bright Lights, Big Honkin' City
Last week was our spring break, so this Kansas transplant into Arizona and the family took a big leap and hit the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles for the first time. It was an excellent trip, we all had fun, and I thought I would just share my own various and somewhat random observations about the expedition to a city with a bigger population than many counties I've lived in.
As we traveled down the freeway through California, the vast amounts of unused land on each side of the road struck me. In Kansas, we plow, plant or pasture (usually rotating all three) every square foot of land. I realize that most of the Cali countryside is too barren or too rough to be good for any of those three P's, but nevertheless, the difference stood out to me. Once we got into the city, we did several of the standard tourist activities, including a trip to the Sunset Strip. On the Walk of Fame, I must admit, it was less impressive than it should have been. In part due to the knowledge from the past that there is no qualification to get a star, other than shelling out the cash to put it down and maintain it, and in part due to the realization that this haphazard approach really shows when the individual stars of teams like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello are nowhere near each other. There is now a picture of me by Alice Cooper's star, and the kids wanted one of me by KISS's star sticking out my tongue (passed on that one though) but it ain't quite up to the hype.
Maintaining the musical theme, we did go to the Hard Rock Cafe. While my hamburger was an excellent slab of meat, it wasn't anywhere near worth the $10, and I doubt that the $15 burgers were either. My advice, just walk through, ooh and aahh at the really cool rock memorabilla (Jim Morrison's pants, Ray Charles' braille lyric sheets, guitars from Eddie Van Halen and Bo Diddly) and hit one of the smaller deli's on the strip. Again segueing seamlessly, one of those small delis that we ate at was really cool for two reasons. The Hollywood reason was that some scenes from Million Dollar Baby were shot in it (so now I have to get it watched to see if we sat in the same seats) and my reason is that it, and many of the other shops and restaurants on the strip aren't just big name cash cows (like Hard Rock) but little independent businesses, the kind that built America and that the franchises are shoving out of the way. Well worth the money to support them on your next trip.
We also loaded up on one of the "see the homes of the stars" tours. While it was cool to see the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house up on the hill, the people who are or were living in the houses wasn't nearly as impressive as the real beauty of many of the homes up there. Even the houses who's residents weren't special enough to warrant mention by our very entertaining tour guide were absolutely gorgeous. (Debating going off on a tangent about how some of these folks who like to ask us to donate money could fund entire countries with the costs of these houses, but I think I'll save that for another day. I know lots of stars are very generous with their fortunes, but most of them aren't putting much of a dent in their discretionary spending with their charity work) Vaguely related to that offshoot, I didn't think about it, but my wife raised the point that for all the complaints about the California economy, Hollywood and the beaches we visited seemed to be staying pretty active. There were people on the sidewalks, in the shops, in the restaurants, on the beaches. (ok not a lot on the beaches, but there was quite a crowd considering the serious cold front and rain rolling in along with the threat of big waves and other stuff rolling in from the Japan earthquake) One of the kids wanted to go bowling, and the first alley we found charged $65 for a lane for an hour, plus shoes, and it was booked solid until 11:00 that night. The second one was much more reasonably priced, but we still faced an hour's wait to get one of it's 40 lanes on a Saturday night.
Speaking of beaches, we did hit a couple, of course. As mentioned, it was a bit chilly with the weather coming in (I swear I felt ice in those waves) but it was still cool for this long land-locked land lubber to watch the sun sink into the water and see the kids digging for seashells. It was not cool having to guard our paltry food supply from sea gulls on the beach, but that's the dangers of being outside I guess. Practical tip of the trip, finding a hotel on the Pacific Coast Highway seems to be a prime way of having pretty easy access to most of L.A., as well as making it pretty easy to find one's way back to the hotel at the end of the day.
I think that covers the big points. Expect more revelations from the big city, especially once summer hits. It's barely a day's drive to get out there from here, so we might even run out for the occasional event. Close enough to visit and enjoy the city life no and again, far enough away we don't have to worry about the stuff that tends to come with that city life.
As we traveled down the freeway through California, the vast amounts of unused land on each side of the road struck me. In Kansas, we plow, plant or pasture (usually rotating all three) every square foot of land. I realize that most of the Cali countryside is too barren or too rough to be good for any of those three P's, but nevertheless, the difference stood out to me. Once we got into the city, we did several of the standard tourist activities, including a trip to the Sunset Strip. On the Walk of Fame, I must admit, it was less impressive than it should have been. In part due to the knowledge from the past that there is no qualification to get a star, other than shelling out the cash to put it down and maintain it, and in part due to the realization that this haphazard approach really shows when the individual stars of teams like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello are nowhere near each other. There is now a picture of me by Alice Cooper's star, and the kids wanted one of me by KISS's star sticking out my tongue (passed on that one though) but it ain't quite up to the hype.
Maintaining the musical theme, we did go to the Hard Rock Cafe. While my hamburger was an excellent slab of meat, it wasn't anywhere near worth the $10, and I doubt that the $15 burgers were either. My advice, just walk through, ooh and aahh at the really cool rock memorabilla (Jim Morrison's pants, Ray Charles' braille lyric sheets, guitars from Eddie Van Halen and Bo Diddly) and hit one of the smaller deli's on the strip. Again segueing seamlessly, one of those small delis that we ate at was really cool for two reasons. The Hollywood reason was that some scenes from Million Dollar Baby were shot in it (so now I have to get it watched to see if we sat in the same seats) and my reason is that it, and many of the other shops and restaurants on the strip aren't just big name cash cows (like Hard Rock) but little independent businesses, the kind that built America and that the franchises are shoving out of the way. Well worth the money to support them on your next trip.
We also loaded up on one of the "see the homes of the stars" tours. While it was cool to see the Fresh Prince of Bel Air house up on the hill, the people who are or were living in the houses wasn't nearly as impressive as the real beauty of many of the homes up there. Even the houses who's residents weren't special enough to warrant mention by our very entertaining tour guide were absolutely gorgeous. (Debating going off on a tangent about how some of these folks who like to ask us to donate money could fund entire countries with the costs of these houses, but I think I'll save that for another day. I know lots of stars are very generous with their fortunes, but most of them aren't putting much of a dent in their discretionary spending with their charity work) Vaguely related to that offshoot, I didn't think about it, but my wife raised the point that for all the complaints about the California economy, Hollywood and the beaches we visited seemed to be staying pretty active. There were people on the sidewalks, in the shops, in the restaurants, on the beaches. (ok not a lot on the beaches, but there was quite a crowd considering the serious cold front and rain rolling in along with the threat of big waves and other stuff rolling in from the Japan earthquake) One of the kids wanted to go bowling, and the first alley we found charged $65 for a lane for an hour, plus shoes, and it was booked solid until 11:00 that night. The second one was much more reasonably priced, but we still faced an hour's wait to get one of it's 40 lanes on a Saturday night.
Speaking of beaches, we did hit a couple, of course. As mentioned, it was a bit chilly with the weather coming in (I swear I felt ice in those waves) but it was still cool for this long land-locked land lubber to watch the sun sink into the water and see the kids digging for seashells. It was not cool having to guard our paltry food supply from sea gulls on the beach, but that's the dangers of being outside I guess. Practical tip of the trip, finding a hotel on the Pacific Coast Highway seems to be a prime way of having pretty easy access to most of L.A., as well as making it pretty easy to find one's way back to the hotel at the end of the day.
I think that covers the big points. Expect more revelations from the big city, especially once summer hits. It's barely a day's drive to get out there from here, so we might even run out for the occasional event. Close enough to visit and enjoy the city life no and again, far enough away we don't have to worry about the stuff that tends to come with that city life.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's.....
Ok, I've been gone for a while, I was on the road for a bit finishing up our move. One of the side things to come out of that is I splurged on an MP3 player to listen to in the moving truck going down the interstate through six states, and got some time to listen to some of the various stuff I've collected over the last several months (hopefully that means I'll get to adding the music reviews I've been meaning to get to). One of those was a sermon series from John MacArthur about the Christian and government and our roles and responsibilities to both. I had the initial four, hour long sermons and a fifth hour long sermon spent answering some questions that came in as the series was initially given and broadcast (back in 1985), so this was a rare opportunity for me to sit and listen to that much audio consecutively.
As you can imagine, between the topic and the time allotted, a lot of material was covered. The main point of all of this was though, is that we (the Church) are supposed to be focused not on politics and citizenry as we are on Kingdom work. We are called to be good, active citizens, but it is the opinion of the speaker that we should be spending far more time and energy on evangelizing and encouraging than politicking and protesting. This is a hard one for some of us, not because it isn't logical or Biblical, but because we have entwined our politics and our faith so much. It is my none too humble opinion that we are living in the most politically turbulent times in the U.S. since before the Civil War, and many of those political issues are moral issues, such as abortion. However, one of the ideals that sticks out from the series is that governments are temporary, souls are eternal. We are definitely getting reminders that governments are not far from permanent, from the swing back to Republicans in Congress back in September to the uprisings in Egypt and Libya now.
So how do we balance this better? I really haven't come up with a good answer yet, despite being back off the road for a week already. National and world politics have gotten so mired in bureaucracy, partisanship, dirty pool, career politicians, and general fertilizer that it takes a laser like focus on the politics to have any clue what's really going on, who's really pulling strings and who's just blowing in the wind. We are living in the results of most people spending several decades not paying attention and being active in the political world, so we know that ignoring it is not an option either.
Perhaps we need to be focusing on better utilizing the ripple effect. Take the big ugly abortion issue. Instead of fighting in the courts, what happens if more Christian effort goes into educating people about why they shouldn't be having abortions and changing the mindset that leads to them? Instead of going after the supply, if the demand vanishes, then does the legal status really have an effect? If more people are saved and operating in an educated, Biblical mindset, how many of those ballot box fights would fade away? If we had more Christ-minded people in office, how much of the gaff and corruption would run back into the shadows? Have we wasted a lot of time and money over the years by taking the wrong route to fixing the system?
If you're interested in the inspiration behind this particular rant, you can stream or download it all here, along with a couple of more sermons on paying your taxes. Definitely a lot to ponder, especially in these times when we seem to be within spitting distance of a major breaking point.
As you can imagine, between the topic and the time allotted, a lot of material was covered. The main point of all of this was though, is that we (the Church) are supposed to be focused not on politics and citizenry as we are on Kingdom work. We are called to be good, active citizens, but it is the opinion of the speaker that we should be spending far more time and energy on evangelizing and encouraging than politicking and protesting. This is a hard one for some of us, not because it isn't logical or Biblical, but because we have entwined our politics and our faith so much. It is my none too humble opinion that we are living in the most politically turbulent times in the U.S. since before the Civil War, and many of those political issues are moral issues, such as abortion. However, one of the ideals that sticks out from the series is that governments are temporary, souls are eternal. We are definitely getting reminders that governments are not far from permanent, from the swing back to Republicans in Congress back in September to the uprisings in Egypt and Libya now.
So how do we balance this better? I really haven't come up with a good answer yet, despite being back off the road for a week already. National and world politics have gotten so mired in bureaucracy, partisanship, dirty pool, career politicians, and general fertilizer that it takes a laser like focus on the politics to have any clue what's really going on, who's really pulling strings and who's just blowing in the wind. We are living in the results of most people spending several decades not paying attention and being active in the political world, so we know that ignoring it is not an option either.
Perhaps we need to be focusing on better utilizing the ripple effect. Take the big ugly abortion issue. Instead of fighting in the courts, what happens if more Christian effort goes into educating people about why they shouldn't be having abortions and changing the mindset that leads to them? Instead of going after the supply, if the demand vanishes, then does the legal status really have an effect? If more people are saved and operating in an educated, Biblical mindset, how many of those ballot box fights would fade away? If we had more Christ-minded people in office, how much of the gaff and corruption would run back into the shadows? Have we wasted a lot of time and money over the years by taking the wrong route to fixing the system?
If you're interested in the inspiration behind this particular rant, you can stream or download it all here, along with a couple of more sermons on paying your taxes. Definitely a lot to ponder, especially in these times when we seem to be within spitting distance of a major breaking point.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A Conundrum Of Sorts
I really need to get better at writing down everything that pops in my head. There were three or four good topics in my head earlier this week, and now, they have all left the building. At least all the good details have gone. There's lots of interesting news floating around, from the fight over state employee unions in Wisconsin and other states, to the spreading revolts in the Middle East, to the fierce winter weather across the U.S. But I think I'll work the remains of one of those ideas, instead.
One of those thoughts bouncing around my head was aggravated by a couple of recent trips to some of the casinos in the area. It was interesting, because it seems that casino floors are the only smoker-friendly places left in the U.S. There aren't thick clouds of smoke floating over all the machines and tables, but the places do stink and irritate some folks, including my ex-smoker self. I've noticed after being off the smokey treats for over a decade now, on those few occasions I visit those smoker friendly areas, I usually leave with something funky in my sinuses, and often an annoying headache.
Now, being the good, capitalist minded conservative that I am, I don't really care for the plethora of anti-smoking laws that are covering the land, or the insane added taxes on tobacco. Neither seems to be having any significant affect on smoking, nor do they do anything to lay the personal responsibility for one's choices on the smoker or give the nonsmoker the power of the pocketbook to avoid smokers. My answer is simply get nonsmokers together to let these various establishments (not just casinos, bars, and clubs, but also apartments and hotels) know that if they want our money, they need to provide us a better option.than the one glass enclosed slot machine room I saw in one casino or "non-smoking" rooms, apartments or rentals that are not enforced or were smoking for thirty years prior. If we don't have the economic pull to effect the change, or inspire someone to start their own, smoke free establishments then that's the way the cookie crumbles.
The purported motivation behind all the pushes in anti-smoking laws and ludicrous costs added to tobacco is to prevent both smokers from hurting themselves by smoking, and of seemingly greater importance to some, preventing nonsmokers from suffering damage from secondhand smoke. The evils of secondhand smoke are shouted from the mountaintops, repeated from public service announcements, and even included on some of the surgeon general warnings on the cigarettes themselves. Parents are lambasted for smoking in the home where their children are because of the importance of keeping children safe from the actions of the adults.
I know, like everybody else, that secondhand smoke does not do any good to those around it, especially the young, developing respiratory system of children. Arguing that is not the point of this rant. The point that I'm aiming at is my amazement that many of these people who are hooting and hollering about how horrible smoking around anybody is dangerous and damaging and needs to be regulated and outlawed, tend to support abortion rights. Smoking and abortion are both, in some arguments, about the person's right to do what they desire with and to their own bodies. Yet, for some reason, to many people, smoking, which is not a guaranteed killer to those around it, or even to the smoker (how old was George Burns again?) must be screamed about and outlawed, while abortion, which is a guaranteed killer, must be defended tooth and nail. Personally, this is a very interesting contradiction, and one I would love to hear a good explanation from any of these folks.
One of those thoughts bouncing around my head was aggravated by a couple of recent trips to some of the casinos in the area. It was interesting, because it seems that casino floors are the only smoker-friendly places left in the U.S. There aren't thick clouds of smoke floating over all the machines and tables, but the places do stink and irritate some folks, including my ex-smoker self. I've noticed after being off the smokey treats for over a decade now, on those few occasions I visit those smoker friendly areas, I usually leave with something funky in my sinuses, and often an annoying headache.
Now, being the good, capitalist minded conservative that I am, I don't really care for the plethora of anti-smoking laws that are covering the land, or the insane added taxes on tobacco. Neither seems to be having any significant affect on smoking, nor do they do anything to lay the personal responsibility for one's choices on the smoker or give the nonsmoker the power of the pocketbook to avoid smokers. My answer is simply get nonsmokers together to let these various establishments (not just casinos, bars, and clubs, but also apartments and hotels) know that if they want our money, they need to provide us a better option.than the one glass enclosed slot machine room I saw in one casino or "non-smoking" rooms, apartments or rentals that are not enforced or were smoking for thirty years prior. If we don't have the economic pull to effect the change, or inspire someone to start their own, smoke free establishments then that's the way the cookie crumbles.
The purported motivation behind all the pushes in anti-smoking laws and ludicrous costs added to tobacco is to prevent both smokers from hurting themselves by smoking, and of seemingly greater importance to some, preventing nonsmokers from suffering damage from secondhand smoke. The evils of secondhand smoke are shouted from the mountaintops, repeated from public service announcements, and even included on some of the surgeon general warnings on the cigarettes themselves. Parents are lambasted for smoking in the home where their children are because of the importance of keeping children safe from the actions of the adults.
I know, like everybody else, that secondhand smoke does not do any good to those around it, especially the young, developing respiratory system of children. Arguing that is not the point of this rant. The point that I'm aiming at is my amazement that many of these people who are hooting and hollering about how horrible smoking around anybody is dangerous and damaging and needs to be regulated and outlawed, tend to support abortion rights. Smoking and abortion are both, in some arguments, about the person's right to do what they desire with and to their own bodies. Yet, for some reason, to many people, smoking, which is not a guaranteed killer to those around it, or even to the smoker (how old was George Burns again?) must be screamed about and outlawed, while abortion, which is a guaranteed killer, must be defended tooth and nail. Personally, this is a very interesting contradiction, and one I would love to hear a good explanation from any of these folks.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What ever happened to the melting pot, or even Must See TV?
An advantage to posting late today, I can forgo the standard Valentine's Day stuff. Instead, I want to talk about something that strikes me frequently, but really hit last night during the Grammy Awards. While watching, it struck me that, even though I'm a little older and never have really be a mainstream/pop music guy, I had very little idea who most of the people performing, presenting, and nominated were. The same thing happens when I watch the Oscars and Emmys as well, and I would be completely lost if I tried watching the MTV awards nowadays. I'm not even sure MTV does awards anymore, it's not like they do music anymore....
However, it occurs to me that this isn't simply a matter of me being out of touch with the mainstream entertainment world. It seems to me that there isn't really a mainstream entertainment world anymore. Very few and far between are those universally recognized bands, movies, or TV shows. There was a time when there were some TV shows and movies that everybody had seen, and some songs that everyone knew the lyrics to. Now, with 157 channels and DVRs to fill our TV addiction and everything under the sun (and a lot of stuff from the shadows) available on the internet on demand, plus advertisers and producers preferring pinpoint target marketing over the melting pot, and a big helping of the constant push of modern western society to individuality, it all comes to a very splintered culture. I know we have blips on the scene, such as Justin Bieber, American Idol, and Glee, but is the fandom and recognition of those as universal as say Michael Jackson, The Cosby Show, or Titanic?
I have been and still consider myself part of several different subcultures that suffer from this kind of splintering. Metal, punk, hacking, and the Church all suffer in various ways from too many within the groups looking at their individuality instead of trying to melt together. Punk is particularly vicious when it comes to dividing over ideals, with it's long and strong history of fighting to stay out of the mainstream and avoid any contact with evil corporate record labels, some in the scene laying out lots of hate, verbal, in print and sometimes physical on anyone daring to gain commercial success playing punk. Metal isn't quite as bad, but there are some examples of the masses calling out bands for sudden, money-inspired career choices ****COUGHCOUGHCOUGHMETALLICACOUGHCOUGH****** (Excuse me, something in my throat). Hackers engage in a lot of debates of white hat (searching out computer exploits simply for the sake of knowledge and fixing them) verses black hat (happy to exploit found holes for monetary gain, cyber vandalism or scene fame). And of course, we don't have dozens of different denominations within the Church, didn't go through the Reformation, and didn't have a Great Awakening here in America because everyone in the Body agreed on all points of theology.
There's nothing wrong with some grouping together by ideals, tastes, or histories. The annual Cornerstone Christian metal festival is a big gathering of people brought together by their taste in music and their faith. The Hackers Of Planet Earth (H.O.P.E) conferences are gathering of people interested in technology, what it does, what it is doing to us, and what we can do to it. But when those metalheads go home, they go to their more diversified local churches, and those hackers head back to their mainstream jobs and schools. Both groups mix and mingle with others who may or may not share all of their views and likes. Hopefully, both the mixers and mixees pick up positives from each other. The metalhead may get inspiration for a song from a line in the pastor's sermon, and one of the hacker's coworkers just may start practicing safer websurfing habits after a conversation about where the hacker went last weekend.
That's the whole point of a melting pot. Different groups putting all of their good ideas together, often to create brand new ideas. I know we started off talking about divisions in our entertainment culture, but those are just an example of the divisions in our culture, divisions that cut much deeper than TV shows and music. Some of these divisions come from the aforementioned target marketing, with a lot of money and research going into exactly what words and images attract people with different tastes. Some of them come from certain groups looking to keep the culture at least divided and distracted, if not conquered.
We can't have a melting pot without a variety of ingredients. But we also can't have a melting pot without those ingredients being willing to come together sometimes. No, simply trying a new radio station or a different news station or listening to a different preacher isn't going to create a great social conglomeration, but it is a step in the right direction.
However, it occurs to me that this isn't simply a matter of me being out of touch with the mainstream entertainment world. It seems to me that there isn't really a mainstream entertainment world anymore. Very few and far between are those universally recognized bands, movies, or TV shows. There was a time when there were some TV shows and movies that everybody had seen, and some songs that everyone knew the lyrics to. Now, with 157 channels and DVRs to fill our TV addiction and everything under the sun (and a lot of stuff from the shadows) available on the internet on demand, plus advertisers and producers preferring pinpoint target marketing over the melting pot, and a big helping of the constant push of modern western society to individuality, it all comes to a very splintered culture. I know we have blips on the scene, such as Justin Bieber, American Idol, and Glee, but is the fandom and recognition of those as universal as say Michael Jackson, The Cosby Show, or Titanic?
I have been and still consider myself part of several different subcultures that suffer from this kind of splintering. Metal, punk, hacking, and the Church all suffer in various ways from too many within the groups looking at their individuality instead of trying to melt together. Punk is particularly vicious when it comes to dividing over ideals, with it's long and strong history of fighting to stay out of the mainstream and avoid any contact with evil corporate record labels, some in the scene laying out lots of hate, verbal, in print and sometimes physical on anyone daring to gain commercial success playing punk. Metal isn't quite as bad, but there are some examples of the masses calling out bands for sudden, money-inspired career choices ****COUGHCOUGHCOUGHMETALLICACOUGHCOUGH****** (Excuse me, something in my throat). Hackers engage in a lot of debates of white hat (searching out computer exploits simply for the sake of knowledge and fixing them) verses black hat (happy to exploit found holes for monetary gain, cyber vandalism or scene fame). And of course, we don't have dozens of different denominations within the Church, didn't go through the Reformation, and didn't have a Great Awakening here in America because everyone in the Body agreed on all points of theology.
There's nothing wrong with some grouping together by ideals, tastes, or histories. The annual Cornerstone Christian metal festival is a big gathering of people brought together by their taste in music and their faith. The Hackers Of Planet Earth (H.O.P.E) conferences are gathering of people interested in technology, what it does, what it is doing to us, and what we can do to it. But when those metalheads go home, they go to their more diversified local churches, and those hackers head back to their mainstream jobs and schools. Both groups mix and mingle with others who may or may not share all of their views and likes. Hopefully, both the mixers and mixees pick up positives from each other. The metalhead may get inspiration for a song from a line in the pastor's sermon, and one of the hacker's coworkers just may start practicing safer websurfing habits after a conversation about where the hacker went last weekend.
That's the whole point of a melting pot. Different groups putting all of their good ideas together, often to create brand new ideas. I know we started off talking about divisions in our entertainment culture, but those are just an example of the divisions in our culture, divisions that cut much deeper than TV shows and music. Some of these divisions come from the aforementioned target marketing, with a lot of money and research going into exactly what words and images attract people with different tastes. Some of them come from certain groups looking to keep the culture at least divided and distracted, if not conquered.
We can't have a melting pot without a variety of ingredients. But we also can't have a melting pot without those ingredients being willing to come together sometimes. No, simply trying a new radio station or a different news station or listening to a different preacher isn't going to create a great social conglomeration, but it is a step in the right direction.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Is it Bread and Juice or Flesh and Blood?
We had a very interesting happening at church this weekend. During communion, the pastor said that he had received a word, that someone in the pews hadn't taken the elements. When the pastor asked that they come forward, not to be embarrassed or forced, but to be reminded that communion is about accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for us while we were still sinners, one person did come forward. Then the pastor moved to asking if anyone took the elements out of habit or to not stick out, and that call got several more people to come forward. It was a powerful moment, one that doesn't translate well into the written word, and it set my mind a working.
We get in habits, not just in the outside world, but in church and our spiritual lives as well. Those habits can be good habits, like prayer, devotional readings, communion, fellowship meetings, fill in your own blanks here. But sometimes they become just that, habits. We do them reflexively, automatically, without the focus and intentionality they need and deserve. Communion is an easy one for this to happen to, because it's usually done about once a month, depending on the church, and it's done in a group, so groupthink and peer pressure come into play. If we put just a couple of moments of thought into the act of communion, the fact that it is one of the very few traditions Jesus established Himself, the symbolism He attached to the bread and the wine, it quickly becomes difficult to glibly just take the little piece of bread out of the plate and the little cup of grape juice and down them for appearances.
But we still do it. Whether it's blindly eating and drinking crackers and grape juice, not thinking about the cross we put around our neck everyday, even doing "good works" out of responsibility, not love, we fall into the trap of habit, or worse, religion. Jesus, Paul, and Peter all spoke against religion. They used the empty rituals and actions of the Pharisees and Sadducees as specific examples of what happens when faith and love of God become empty action and schedule. When we read the Old Testament, we hear about the rituals being performed with hearts open to God, and they were accepted by God as proper worship. But by the New Testament, we have the focus off God and on to the actions. Forgetting the verses put in those phylacteries that were made wide to show off how holy the wearer was. (Matt. 23:5, the verses were Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16, and Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, if you're interested)
One of the things I picked up from the positive mental attitude teachings of W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill was that it takes being intentional to make ourselves better. This applies to our walk with Jesus as well. The way to avoid the problems of empty religion is to be intentional in keeping our walk a relationship, one where communications flow both ways, one where we are looking to build up and expand the relationship at all times. One where we admit when (not if) we fall, take the hand back up, brush ourselves off, ask forgiveness, and keep walking. When we can maintain that intentional walk, it's never just bread and juice, it really is that body broken and blood poured out for us.
We get in habits, not just in the outside world, but in church and our spiritual lives as well. Those habits can be good habits, like prayer, devotional readings, communion, fellowship meetings, fill in your own blanks here. But sometimes they become just that, habits. We do them reflexively, automatically, without the focus and intentionality they need and deserve. Communion is an easy one for this to happen to, because it's usually done about once a month, depending on the church, and it's done in a group, so groupthink and peer pressure come into play. If we put just a couple of moments of thought into the act of communion, the fact that it is one of the very few traditions Jesus established Himself, the symbolism He attached to the bread and the wine, it quickly becomes difficult to glibly just take the little piece of bread out of the plate and the little cup of grape juice and down them for appearances.
But we still do it. Whether it's blindly eating and drinking crackers and grape juice, not thinking about the cross we put around our neck everyday, even doing "good works" out of responsibility, not love, we fall into the trap of habit, or worse, religion. Jesus, Paul, and Peter all spoke against religion. They used the empty rituals and actions of the Pharisees and Sadducees as specific examples of what happens when faith and love of God become empty action and schedule. When we read the Old Testament, we hear about the rituals being performed with hearts open to God, and they were accepted by God as proper worship. But by the New Testament, we have the focus off God and on to the actions. Forgetting the verses put in those phylacteries that were made wide to show off how holy the wearer was. (Matt. 23:5, the verses were Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16, and Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, if you're interested)
One of the things I picked up from the positive mental attitude teachings of W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill was that it takes being intentional to make ourselves better. This applies to our walk with Jesus as well. The way to avoid the problems of empty religion is to be intentional in keeping our walk a relationship, one where communications flow both ways, one where we are looking to build up and expand the relationship at all times. One where we admit when (not if) we fall, take the hand back up, brush ourselves off, ask forgiveness, and keep walking. When we can maintain that intentional walk, it's never just bread and juice, it really is that body broken and blood poured out for us.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A sad trend
An article in the local paper this weekend reminded me of an issue I've noticed seems to becoming more and more common. Here is the article about another infant allegedly killed by a significant other. Not by a parent, but by the parent's boyfriend (in this case, I've seen a couple where it was a girlfriend who was the perpetrator) It's a very sad byproduct of the growing trend of single parenthood, easy come, easy go relationships, and a general tearing down of the ideal of family. The simple fact of the matter is that children, especially infants, can be very frustrating. They can't communicate very specifically, every day is a new experience that can be both good and bad, and they have difficulty understanding what's going on around them. The end result can be extended periods of fussing and crying and screaming when a baby want something or is hurting or uncomfortable or in any of a dozen other states.
Now, for a biological parent, or a non-biological significant other who is seriously committed to their partner and the baby, the frustration can be overcome. Not always easily, and sometimes even natural parents and committed significant others can slip up, but when there is that real, intentional bond between adult and child, the likelihood of losing one's temper to that degree drops significantly. But when there is no commitment beyond one person having a roof over their head, when there isn't any real intention of maintaining a parental relationship with the child, when the child is just an inconvenience that comes with this month's source of whatever is being looked for in a relationship, there isn't always that trigger to hold back.
Obviously, it is very possible for a person who isn't a biological parent to step up to the role, that is not the point of this rant. The point is the difference between those who successfully rise to the challenge and people like this guy and the others who keep popping up in similar stories. That difference is primarily a respect, a belief in committed relationships, usually with an outward symbol of that commitment like a wedding ring. But, as we keep being reminded, the value of marriage keeps going down. More and more people are shacking up for various amounts of time, both short term and long term, the divorce rate among those who do get married remains a 50/50 shot at staying together, even in the Church, babies becoming accessories instead of responsibilities, all of these things are leading to more and more of these cases. We could throw in abortion on demand as a factor as well, but that will get things on a completely different track, so we'll leave that one off for now.
These cases used to be very rare, but as the foundational attitudes that I just mentioned get changed and undermined, they've gotten more common. As these foundations keep eroding, it's going to get worse. Both Christians and conservatives talk about how American society keeps going downhill, but we still haven't bottomed out yet. I talked awhile back about how our current levels of depravity don't touch those reached by ancient empires like Rome. We have to get people to take off their blinders and see the ripple effects of these things. It's bad enough that this infant and the others (this blog from 2008 comes up with 5, it's not hard to find more and more recent ones), think about the wave effect if these foundational trends continue.
Now, for a biological parent, or a non-biological significant other who is seriously committed to their partner and the baby, the frustration can be overcome. Not always easily, and sometimes even natural parents and committed significant others can slip up, but when there is that real, intentional bond between adult and child, the likelihood of losing one's temper to that degree drops significantly. But when there is no commitment beyond one person having a roof over their head, when there isn't any real intention of maintaining a parental relationship with the child, when the child is just an inconvenience that comes with this month's source of whatever is being looked for in a relationship, there isn't always that trigger to hold back.
Obviously, it is very possible for a person who isn't a biological parent to step up to the role, that is not the point of this rant. The point is the difference between those who successfully rise to the challenge and people like this guy and the others who keep popping up in similar stories. That difference is primarily a respect, a belief in committed relationships, usually with an outward symbol of that commitment like a wedding ring. But, as we keep being reminded, the value of marriage keeps going down. More and more people are shacking up for various amounts of time, both short term and long term, the divorce rate among those who do get married remains a 50/50 shot at staying together, even in the Church, babies becoming accessories instead of responsibilities, all of these things are leading to more and more of these cases. We could throw in abortion on demand as a factor as well, but that will get things on a completely different track, so we'll leave that one off for now.
These cases used to be very rare, but as the foundational attitudes that I just mentioned get changed and undermined, they've gotten more common. As these foundations keep eroding, it's going to get worse. Both Christians and conservatives talk about how American society keeps going downhill, but we still haven't bottomed out yet. I talked awhile back about how our current levels of depravity don't touch those reached by ancient empires like Rome. We have to get people to take off their blinders and see the ripple effects of these things. It's bad enough that this infant and the others (this blog from 2008 comes up with 5, it's not hard to find more and more recent ones), think about the wave effect if these foundational trends continue.
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