“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink. . . Is not life more important than food?”
Matthew 6:25
Everyone can picture a mom telling little Johnny to finish all of his vegetables because there are starving children in Africa. And when we’re little we might actually believe that finishing our lima beans will help those poor, hungry African children. In reality though, we can’t feed kids in Africa, or somewhere else in the world, with our uneaten peas. When we grow up we all understand that the message is more about being grateful that we have food at all and not being picky about food we don’t like. That’s an important message, but what if there’s something more too. What if Jesus told us exactly what to do with those extra uneaten cooked carrots?
In Luke 14, starting with verse 15, Jesus told a bunch of people at a Pharisees’ house a little story. In that story a person prepared a great banquet. When it was time to eat, the host sent out servants to invite people to the feast. They all turned down the offer. Three prominent people, those the Pharisees would have liked to invite to dinner, made excuses and said they couldn’t come. The host was upset, but not completely discouraged because the servants were next told to invite anyone and everyone to come to the banquet. They kept inviting people until the house was full.
Now, this parable almost certainly has more to do with the Kingdom of God than our eating practices, but I like to think it has something to say about both. With our extra food we can’t feed children in Africa, but we can feed people down the street. There’s no need to have food that spoils or gets thrown away. Some people won’t need the extra food, but there will always be people who’d appreciate it (college students, volunteers, the elderly, etc . . .). It just might take a little work to find them.
It’s awesome when people provide meals for families that are going through hard times and can’t provide meals for themselves very well. I’m proud to know that my university donates their leftover food to a community center that provides free meals for those that need it. It makes me smile when I see people bringing their excess zucchini to church, giving it away to anyone who would eat it. I’m delighted when the family across the street from my parents’ house share some food from their bounteous gardens.
So let’s be grateful for the food we have and share generously from our abundance. It’s an example of how generosity extends far beyond our use of money. It takes a little extra thought, but I think it’s a more faithful way to live.
This is an idea I had a few months ago, but I haven’t been bold enough to implement: don’t eat at fast food restaurants. This is a little more radical than “don’t go to fast food restaurants.” What if we were to go to fast food restaurants, but not eat at them? Is that crazy?
Here are the thoughts behind it: Generally speaking, fast food restaurants promote what Michael Pollan advocates against (see previous post). They do alright providing actual food to eat, but when it comes to eating mostly plants and not eating too much, they fail. The commercial meat industry, which I resist supporting, keeps fast food restaurants in business. Perhaps the opposite is true too. Together they assure us that we can and should have loads of meat in each sandwich, which is neither good for us nor good for the planet. So maybe eating at these restaurants is something we should question.
I spend around $6-8 every time I eat at a fast food restaurant. I don’t go often, usually just when I’m travelling, which actually has been often recently. What if I were to enter the restaurant like normal and just not get in line. This wouldn’t be a protest, like a sit-in or anything; I’d just fast for a meal. It wouldn’t kill me. I could have healthier, more faithful snacks in the car waiting for me. In addition to not eating, I could set aside $6-8 to donate somewhere that’ll feed people. There are plenty of organizations set up to feed those starving kids in Africa. Or you could make a more local choice, like a mission for the homeless or a food bank. I think Jesus would support that. By doing this I’d consciously not support something that’s less than faithful and support something that is faithful. That’s a win-win!
This concludes my current thoughts on living consciously in regards to food. I’m sure there are a lot of other great ideas out there. Do you know of any? Are there problems with the thoughts and ideas I’ve suggested? Maybe something I said has undesirable, unfaithful consequences that I’ve overlooked. I’m far from perfect.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Living Consciously: food (part 1)
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone.’”
Luke 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
I’d be remiss if I didn’t attribute a lot of my ideas in this post to my wonderful girlfriend. Without her this post would not exist. Actually, without her I’m quite sure none of these posts would exist. She’s the epitome of a conscious liver. (ha! That’s a funny term! I just called my girlfriend a sentient organ.)
I became a vegetarian about a year ago. I loved the fact that it was a relatively accepted way to eat more consciously. For the first few months it was a little challenging. For lunch I’d start thinking about making a simple ham sandwich, and then I’d have to stop and think. I guess it’d be peanut butter and jelly instead.
My forced layer of thinking stretched far beyond not eating meat. I found myself putting more thought into the fruits and vegetables I ate. My snacking lessened and my desire for dessert decreased. I thought a lot more about everything I ate. I didn’t expect such diverse benefits to come from the choice to be vegetarian.
So, why do I think being a vegetarian is a faithful step toward viewing food through a Jesus lens? Well, let me tell you.
Generally speaking, I think God’s plan for humanity is good. And in God’s original plan for humanity Adam and Eve didn’t eat meat. This actually applied to animals too. There was no spilling of blood, so therefore everyone and everything ate fruits and vegetables (Genesis 1:29-30). It wasn’t until after Noah and the flood that God consented and gave people animals to eat. And even then, the blood was sacred (Genesis 9:3-4). That’s not why I’m a vegetarian, but that seems reason enough to give it more thought, doesn’t it?
Actually, I probably shouldn’t call myself a vegetarian. I eat meat. I guess “flexetarian” is a term that describes me. Also in the Garden of Eden, God gave people the instructions to care for the land. That’s the real reason I’m a vegetarian. Meat is convenient. Any fast food restaurant will prove that. But, (like I said in the last post,) convenience is usually a sign of something gone wrong. In this case it’s the mass-produced-meat industry, which, generally speaking, doesn’t care for God’s creation. It doesn’t treat the animals as God’s workmanship. It uses many pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. (Interesting fact I found online: Plants yield 10 times more protein per acre than meat.) And it fills the air with greenhouse gases to transport its goods across the world.
I don’t think eating meat is unfaithful, but I do think some meat we eat is less than faithful. To live consciously we have to consider our meat more carefully. In Jesus’ day they didn’t worry so much about this. They didn’t have a commercial meat industry. Any meat they ate had to be either local and fresh or transported and spoiled. I happily eat local meat. Hunted meat is great and seafood is alright if I’m near the source of it. If someone I know is going to butcher a cow, then I’ll happily buy some of it.
There’s a downside here: local meat is more expensive. Yep, that’s true. But is money our top priority? Is money our god or is God our God? Just because it’s cheap (and cheapness is a form of convenience) does not necessarily make it a good choice.
I recently read Food Rules by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivores Dilemma). (It was a gift from my sister. She demonstrated the generosity from my last post!) He summarized his suggestions for eating like this: “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” I concur. “Eat food” means you try not to eat “edible food-like substances.” These are the random things in ingredient lists that you’d never have in your pantry or cook with yourself. “Mostly plants” is pretty self-explanatory. I’d draw the line at my suggestions above. “Not too much” is a critique of our American culture. We eat way more than we need to and that may have been something Jesus would have questioned if he lived today.
Well, it looks like this post on food will have to be a two-parter! I still have 5 ideas left to write about. More to come tomorrow!
Did these random thoughts bring up any random thoughts in anyone else? I really appreciate it when people post comments even if they aren’t especially substantive. I also appreciate when people follow my blog. It’s nice to know who’s reading.
Luke 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:4
I’d be remiss if I didn’t attribute a lot of my ideas in this post to my wonderful girlfriend. Without her this post would not exist. Actually, without her I’m quite sure none of these posts would exist. She’s the epitome of a conscious liver. (ha! That’s a funny term! I just called my girlfriend a sentient organ.)
I became a vegetarian about a year ago. I loved the fact that it was a relatively accepted way to eat more consciously. For the first few months it was a little challenging. For lunch I’d start thinking about making a simple ham sandwich, and then I’d have to stop and think. I guess it’d be peanut butter and jelly instead.
My forced layer of thinking stretched far beyond not eating meat. I found myself putting more thought into the fruits and vegetables I ate. My snacking lessened and my desire for dessert decreased. I thought a lot more about everything I ate. I didn’t expect such diverse benefits to come from the choice to be vegetarian.
So, why do I think being a vegetarian is a faithful step toward viewing food through a Jesus lens? Well, let me tell you.
Generally speaking, I think God’s plan for humanity is good. And in God’s original plan for humanity Adam and Eve didn’t eat meat. This actually applied to animals too. There was no spilling of blood, so therefore everyone and everything ate fruits and vegetables (Genesis 1:29-30). It wasn’t until after Noah and the flood that God consented and gave people animals to eat. And even then, the blood was sacred (Genesis 9:3-4). That’s not why I’m a vegetarian, but that seems reason enough to give it more thought, doesn’t it?
Actually, I probably shouldn’t call myself a vegetarian. I eat meat. I guess “flexetarian” is a term that describes me. Also in the Garden of Eden, God gave people the instructions to care for the land. That’s the real reason I’m a vegetarian. Meat is convenient. Any fast food restaurant will prove that. But, (like I said in the last post,) convenience is usually a sign of something gone wrong. In this case it’s the mass-produced-meat industry, which, generally speaking, doesn’t care for God’s creation. It doesn’t treat the animals as God’s workmanship. It uses many pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. (Interesting fact I found online: Plants yield 10 times more protein per acre than meat.) And it fills the air with greenhouse gases to transport its goods across the world.
I don’t think eating meat is unfaithful, but I do think some meat we eat is less than faithful. To live consciously we have to consider our meat more carefully. In Jesus’ day they didn’t worry so much about this. They didn’t have a commercial meat industry. Any meat they ate had to be either local and fresh or transported and spoiled. I happily eat local meat. Hunted meat is great and seafood is alright if I’m near the source of it. If someone I know is going to butcher a cow, then I’ll happily buy some of it.
There’s a downside here: local meat is more expensive. Yep, that’s true. But is money our top priority? Is money our god or is God our God? Just because it’s cheap (and cheapness is a form of convenience) does not necessarily make it a good choice.
I recently read Food Rules by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivores Dilemma). (It was a gift from my sister. She demonstrated the generosity from my last post!) He summarized his suggestions for eating like this: “Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” I concur. “Eat food” means you try not to eat “edible food-like substances.” These are the random things in ingredient lists that you’d never have in your pantry or cook with yourself. “Mostly plants” is pretty self-explanatory. I’d draw the line at my suggestions above. “Not too much” is a critique of our American culture. We eat way more than we need to and that may have been something Jesus would have questioned if he lived today.
Well, it looks like this post on food will have to be a two-parter! I still have 5 ideas left to write about. More to come tomorrow!
Did these random thoughts bring up any random thoughts in anyone else? I really appreciate it when people post comments even if they aren’t especially substantive. I also appreciate when people follow my blog. It’s nice to know who’s reading.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Living Consciously: money
Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Matthew 22:21
Money is really convenient. Having it makes life so much easier. Arguably, it’s essential to live (though I’m going to argue that it’s not). It’s certainly essential for a lot of things in American society. I’d have to say that it’s not as important as many people would like to believe though. Money isn’t entirely evil or anything like that, but it’s from human minds, not from God’s. Jesus wasn’t opposed to money, but if we live consciously we have to question our use and treatment of money.
(Though this is the first section I’ve written in this series, I’m sure we’ve encountered a major theme already: decisions made on the basis of “convenience” almost always deserve scrutiny. Our culture says convenience = good, but I don’t think Jesus would agree. Keep that in mind.)
Money isn’t necessary for church. Sure, church as a building with a budget and paid staff and identified ministries to support needs money to operate, but as I define church, all that stuff is extra. Church in its basic form doesn’t require money. It requires people. And it requires God. And fortunately people can’t be anywhere where God is not.
Money isn’t necessary for food. If you want to eat whatever you want whenever you want it, then yes, you’ll need money. I’m not bold enough to eat without spending money on food, but it is possible. You may quickly get tired of the seasonal vegetables a garden produces, but they’ll keep you alive.
Food will get its own post later in this series, but I want to share a Bible story that ties money and food together. In John 6 Jesus has a huge crowd following him, mostly because they’ve seen him miraculously heal the sick. Jesus then has a conversation with his disciples about how to feed such a vast crowd of people. Their conversation starts by talking about the tremendous amount of money necessary to feed 5000 men, plus women and children. Philip says it’d take a year’s wages for each person to have just a bite. Then Jesus goes on to show that money isn’t truly an obstacle. He creates more than enough food out of a few loaves and fish. In this story money was a false hope, a distracting lead, a red herring. If money is a god, then money just lost all credibility. If Jesus is God, then he just gained credibility.
Even though Jesus didn’t use money in that story, I think he showed us how you use our money. In decisions involving money, conscious living wonders if generosity should come into play. At Christmas time suddenly I’m faced with dozens of things I never knew I wanted before, but now I want them really, really badly! But, if I spend my money to buy those things for myself, then I have less money to spend generously for others. I have to insert another layer of thought and act more faithfully and less selfishly. Fortunately my family makes this less of an issue. I’ll selflessly spend my money on gifts for them and I’ll carefully drop a hint about that other thing I really need. I’ll rest assured knowing that someone else will practice their own generosity by purchasing it for me.
It’s easy to use money for security. I don’t think that’s where I want to be putting my trust though. I’d rather put my faith in God and, like I said earlier, money is humanly, not Godly. Currently I’m really low on money. I’ve been living in Baltimore as a volunteer for a year and paying off college loans. That’s not a recipe for riches. My security comes from the people of God who have been extremely generous to me throughout this year.
I’m quite sure that life works best when everyone is generous. Notice there I didn’t say that life works best when the rich people are generous. I may not be able to help someone out with a loan payment, but you better believe I’m willing to pay for you to go bowling with me. I won’t balance the church’s budget, but I’ll tithe my $50 monthly stipend. If someone else offers to pay the restaurant bill, then I’ll gratefully accept, but when the bill comes every time after that the other person better act quickly or I’ll be paying for them.
There’s a downside here. If I’m generous with my money, then next time I want to buy something I might not be able to. Yep, that’s true. If I have $20 and I spend it on someone else, then I can’t spend it on me. If it’s something I want, then I’ll have to do without and I won’t die. If it’s something I need, then I’ll turn to someone else and humbly ask for help. I think you’ll find that people are more generous with their money that you expected. (Relationships like this will also get a post later in the series.)
Generosity extends far beyond money, by the way. I haven’t mentioned that, but it’s true. We have much more to give each other than just money.
I wrote about this topic first because I thought it’d be one of the shorter ones. Either I was mistaken and this was one of the longer posts, or I was mistaken in assuming these posts would be short. I could write a ton more and tell a lot more stories, but I’m going to stop.
What do you have to share about the faithful use of money? Have you had any experiences when an extra layer of thought was used in your money decision-making?
Matthew 22:21
Money is really convenient. Having it makes life so much easier. Arguably, it’s essential to live (though I’m going to argue that it’s not). It’s certainly essential for a lot of things in American society. I’d have to say that it’s not as important as many people would like to believe though. Money isn’t entirely evil or anything like that, but it’s from human minds, not from God’s. Jesus wasn’t opposed to money, but if we live consciously we have to question our use and treatment of money.
(Though this is the first section I’ve written in this series, I’m sure we’ve encountered a major theme already: decisions made on the basis of “convenience” almost always deserve scrutiny. Our culture says convenience = good, but I don’t think Jesus would agree. Keep that in mind.)
Money isn’t necessary for church. Sure, church as a building with a budget and paid staff and identified ministries to support needs money to operate, but as I define church, all that stuff is extra. Church in its basic form doesn’t require money. It requires people. And it requires God. And fortunately people can’t be anywhere where God is not.
Money isn’t necessary for food. If you want to eat whatever you want whenever you want it, then yes, you’ll need money. I’m not bold enough to eat without spending money on food, but it is possible. You may quickly get tired of the seasonal vegetables a garden produces, but they’ll keep you alive.
Food will get its own post later in this series, but I want to share a Bible story that ties money and food together. In John 6 Jesus has a huge crowd following him, mostly because they’ve seen him miraculously heal the sick. Jesus then has a conversation with his disciples about how to feed such a vast crowd of people. Their conversation starts by talking about the tremendous amount of money necessary to feed 5000 men, plus women and children. Philip says it’d take a year’s wages for each person to have just a bite. Then Jesus goes on to show that money isn’t truly an obstacle. He creates more than enough food out of a few loaves and fish. In this story money was a false hope, a distracting lead, a red herring. If money is a god, then money just lost all credibility. If Jesus is God, then he just gained credibility.
Even though Jesus didn’t use money in that story, I think he showed us how you use our money. In decisions involving money, conscious living wonders if generosity should come into play. At Christmas time suddenly I’m faced with dozens of things I never knew I wanted before, but now I want them really, really badly! But, if I spend my money to buy those things for myself, then I have less money to spend generously for others. I have to insert another layer of thought and act more faithfully and less selfishly. Fortunately my family makes this less of an issue. I’ll selflessly spend my money on gifts for them and I’ll carefully drop a hint about that other thing I really need. I’ll rest assured knowing that someone else will practice their own generosity by purchasing it for me.
It’s easy to use money for security. I don’t think that’s where I want to be putting my trust though. I’d rather put my faith in God and, like I said earlier, money is humanly, not Godly. Currently I’m really low on money. I’ve been living in Baltimore as a volunteer for a year and paying off college loans. That’s not a recipe for riches. My security comes from the people of God who have been extremely generous to me throughout this year.
I’m quite sure that life works best when everyone is generous. Notice there I didn’t say that life works best when the rich people are generous. I may not be able to help someone out with a loan payment, but you better believe I’m willing to pay for you to go bowling with me. I won’t balance the church’s budget, but I’ll tithe my $50 monthly stipend. If someone else offers to pay the restaurant bill, then I’ll gratefully accept, but when the bill comes every time after that the other person better act quickly or I’ll be paying for them.
There’s a downside here. If I’m generous with my money, then next time I want to buy something I might not be able to. Yep, that’s true. If I have $20 and I spend it on someone else, then I can’t spend it on me. If it’s something I want, then I’ll have to do without and I won’t die. If it’s something I need, then I’ll turn to someone else and humbly ask for help. I think you’ll find that people are more generous with their money that you expected. (Relationships like this will also get a post later in the series.)
Generosity extends far beyond money, by the way. I haven’t mentioned that, but it’s true. We have much more to give each other than just money.
I wrote about this topic first because I thought it’d be one of the shorter ones. Either I was mistaken and this was one of the longer posts, or I was mistaken in assuming these posts would be short. I could write a ton more and tell a lot more stories, but I’m going to stop.
What do you have to share about the faithful use of money? Have you had any experiences when an extra layer of thought was used in your money decision-making?
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Living Consciously: an intro
Here’s the question: How do we, as Christians, live an authentic, faithful, Jesus-centered life?
And here’s my humble answer: We live more consciously. We add another layer to our decision-making. Before making decisions, we take the time to rethink the assumptions and patterns that we’ve lived before. This added layer is a Jesus lens. Without this lens we live how the world does, which, I’d argue, is far less than faithful. With this additional lens we have a chance to recreate a life that actually cares about what Jesus taught and modeled. In order to insert this lens in our lives we must accept the call to live more consciously.
At the onset of this series I want to make something clear. If I had to identify one thing that God has been teaching me in the past year or so, it’d be this: The grace of God is not dependent on my actions. I can never earn grace. In fact, trying to earn grace is a horrible mistake and a grievous waste of life. God loves me and Jesus died for me while I was a sinner. Even if I completely change my life and follow 714 rules for faithful living, I will remain a sinner. And as I remain a sinner, God will remain a lover. Living consciously, whatever that will come to mean, will never earn anything from God. It’s simply an idea for more authentic living. I am a Christian loved and redeemed by God and I want that fact to be more than simply truth. I want it to change my life. Therefore, I want to live consciously with a Jesus lens.
If ever I seem to be straying away from that last paragraph and it sounds like I’m working for God’s grace, then I kindly ask that someone point it out and redirect me. I’m in the learning process of this whole grace thing and I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way.
Back to Jesus. Jesus was a Jew in a Roman world. I’m a Christian in an American world. Though I’m under-educated on the implications of such a statement, I propose that the two realities (Jesus and mine) are quite parallel. Jesus had harsh words for the elite Jews of his time and rejected a lot of Roman culture and influence. As we add a Jesus lens to our life, we too much take an inquisitive look at the Christian system (maybe Christendom is the right term here?) we participate in and refuse to blindly follow the cultural influence of the United States of America. We may live in this country, but we belong to the Kingdom of God. As we live consciously, our loyalties must lie above our human religion (Christendom) and above our human government (the USA) and find their home in God’s will.
So there, my blog series has been introduced. For the next while I’ll be sharing random thoughts and practical ideas about how living consciously looks in my life. I hope people stick with me and add their own comments and examples and stories and insights and wisdom that I could never possess. Let’s learn together with Jesus as our guide.
And here’s my humble answer: We live more consciously. We add another layer to our decision-making. Before making decisions, we take the time to rethink the assumptions and patterns that we’ve lived before. This added layer is a Jesus lens. Without this lens we live how the world does, which, I’d argue, is far less than faithful. With this additional lens we have a chance to recreate a life that actually cares about what Jesus taught and modeled. In order to insert this lens in our lives we must accept the call to live more consciously.
At the onset of this series I want to make something clear. If I had to identify one thing that God has been teaching me in the past year or so, it’d be this: The grace of God is not dependent on my actions. I can never earn grace. In fact, trying to earn grace is a horrible mistake and a grievous waste of life. God loves me and Jesus died for me while I was a sinner. Even if I completely change my life and follow 714 rules for faithful living, I will remain a sinner. And as I remain a sinner, God will remain a lover. Living consciously, whatever that will come to mean, will never earn anything from God. It’s simply an idea for more authentic living. I am a Christian loved and redeemed by God and I want that fact to be more than simply truth. I want it to change my life. Therefore, I want to live consciously with a Jesus lens.
If ever I seem to be straying away from that last paragraph and it sounds like I’m working for God’s grace, then I kindly ask that someone point it out and redirect me. I’m in the learning process of this whole grace thing and I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way.
Back to Jesus. Jesus was a Jew in a Roman world. I’m a Christian in an American world. Though I’m under-educated on the implications of such a statement, I propose that the two realities (Jesus and mine) are quite parallel. Jesus had harsh words for the elite Jews of his time and rejected a lot of Roman culture and influence. As we add a Jesus lens to our life, we too much take an inquisitive look at the Christian system (maybe Christendom is the right term here?) we participate in and refuse to blindly follow the cultural influence of the United States of America. We may live in this country, but we belong to the Kingdom of God. As we live consciously, our loyalties must lie above our human religion (Christendom) and above our human government (the USA) and find their home in God’s will.
So there, my blog series has been introduced. For the next while I’ll be sharing random thoughts and practical ideas about how living consciously looks in my life. I hope people stick with me and add their own comments and examples and stories and insights and wisdom that I could never possess. Let’s learn together with Jesus as our guide.
Monday, July 25, 2011
blog series
I’ve been thinking a lot. That happens. This time though, a good chunk of the thoughts all revolve around trying to live a more faithful, Jesus-centered life. That’s always been a goal of mine, but recently it’s been really weighing on me. What are practical steps I can take in that direction? I doubt I’m alone in this type of question.
I’m approaching a serious transition in my life and that always feels like a good time to make changes in my behavior. It’s a “New Year’s Resolution” kind of thing, except instead of remembering the correct date I have to remember where I live and what I do during the day. I’m not a huge fan of change, but I’m not afraid of it. And I guess if my outward life is going to change, then I’d rather make it a dramatic inward change too.
So I’m about to start a nice little run of blog posts, a series, if you will (and I hope you will). I’m not good at creating solid arguments or compelling persuasive pieces. My mind isn’t often linear. It’s more convoluted than that. So, in advance, I apologize for the randomness of my posts. These will be a series of thoughts that may or may not connect with each other. Ideally I want to post one per day until I run out of thoughts to write, but realistically it’ll probably take me weeks to get stuff out.
Yep, here it goes. Lead on, God.
I’m approaching a serious transition in my life and that always feels like a good time to make changes in my behavior. It’s a “New Year’s Resolution” kind of thing, except instead of remembering the correct date I have to remember where I live and what I do during the day. I’m not a huge fan of change, but I’m not afraid of it. And I guess if my outward life is going to change, then I’d rather make it a dramatic inward change too.
So I’m about to start a nice little run of blog posts, a series, if you will (and I hope you will). I’m not good at creating solid arguments or compelling persuasive pieces. My mind isn’t often linear. It’s more convoluted than that. So, in advance, I apologize for the randomness of my posts. These will be a series of thoughts that may or may not connect with each other. Ideally I want to post one per day until I run out of thoughts to write, but realistically it’ll probably take me weeks to get stuff out.
Yep, here it goes. Lead on, God.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Looking toward Pittsburgh
I’m excited for the Mennonite Convention in Pittsburgh this year. It’s just one month away and here are a few of my random, scattered thoughts on it:
Two years ago in Columbus I went as a young adult and I loved the freedom that gave me. I went to some youth sessions and some adult sessions. I floated around and loved it immensely!
This year I’m going as a youth sponsor and I’ll have more responsibility to stick with the youth. I’m sure it’ll still be great, but I wish I could be more involved with the adults.
Last convention I was disappointed that the debate on homosexuality didn’t really seem to reach a conclusion. It was a huge conversation that was given very little resolution. It left me looking forward to Pittsburgh where it could be addressed further and hopefully a stance could be taken.
This year I’m excited for the dialogue on homosexuality, but I’ll be extremely disappointed if it’s given too much attention. The purpose of the church isn’t to judge right and wrong and focusing on that too much would be a waste of our time. The purpose of the church is to participate in God’s work on earth. Those conversations should be the priority in Pittsburgh.
Last convention, a week in Columbus was a nice vacation from my pastoral internship in Iowa. I was grateful for the chance to see so many family and friends that I hadn’t seen all summer.
This year, Pittsburgh will be a break from my year in Baltimore and a chance to see family and friends again. It seems like conventions are perfect times for reunions!
Does anyone else have thought looking toward Pittsburgh?
Two years ago in Columbus I went as a young adult and I loved the freedom that gave me. I went to some youth sessions and some adult sessions. I floated around and loved it immensely!
This year I’m going as a youth sponsor and I’ll have more responsibility to stick with the youth. I’m sure it’ll still be great, but I wish I could be more involved with the adults.
Last convention I was disappointed that the debate on homosexuality didn’t really seem to reach a conclusion. It was a huge conversation that was given very little resolution. It left me looking forward to Pittsburgh where it could be addressed further and hopefully a stance could be taken.
This year I’m excited for the dialogue on homosexuality, but I’ll be extremely disappointed if it’s given too much attention. The purpose of the church isn’t to judge right and wrong and focusing on that too much would be a waste of our time. The purpose of the church is to participate in God’s work on earth. Those conversations should be the priority in Pittsburgh.
Last convention, a week in Columbus was a nice vacation from my pastoral internship in Iowa. I was grateful for the chance to see so many family and friends that I hadn’t seen all summer.
This year, Pittsburgh will be a break from my year in Baltimore and a chance to see family and friends again. It seems like conventions are perfect times for reunions!
Does anyone else have thought looking toward Pittsburgh?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Castle (part 2)
I'm a game nerd. I took the time to make a pictorial documentary of a game of "Castle" that I played with myself. I made a few mistakes and the game was fairly boring, but flipping through the pictures ought to help people understand the game. It can be seen on Facebook here.
"Castle" had a fairly unusual origin. Last Tuesday morning I awoke from a dream. Here's that dream:
I was playing a card game like none I had never seen before. There were two people across the table teaching it to me. One was directly across from me and the other was to that person's right. I'm not sure who either of them were. On the table between us were 3 cards flipped face up and one pile facing down. There was an array of cards in front of me and in front of the person across the table. These were cards we had played earlier and were the whole point of the game.
It was my turn. I decided to pick up one of the face-up cards, an ace of clubs. My intent was to play it with a 2 and 3 (both red) that I had in my hand already. When I tried though, my opponent said that wasn't allowed. I began to understand why and tried to lay the ace with just my 2. Once again, my opponent told me that wasn't allowed. The person told me I could only lay the ace with another ace and pointed out something they had laid in front of them earlier. I was frustrated. We all agreed that drawing the ace of clubs was a pretty dumb choice.
So that was my dream. From it, I decided to create rules and make a game. "Castle" fell together quite quickly! I was hooked before I went to bed that night. I tweaked a few things over the next several days, but mostly it seemed to work well from the start. I simply pulled in aspects that I enjoy in games.
Here's what I like about it:
1. There's plenty of strategy and many tactics to mess around with. Every turn the player is faced with a lot of choices. There's a good bit of luck, but having 3 face-up cards helps bring more strategy to the drawing phase.
2. It requires a series of developments before you get to a successful result. The face value of the card matters, but cards can be given greater meaning. It becomes almost relational. (I especially appreciate my peasants!)
3. It's a 2 player game and quite frankly there aren't enough good 2 player games. Plus you don't need anything more than 2 decks of cards. I wish it could be played without needing so much space, but that couldn't be avoided.
If anyone else feels the need to create a game, here are two wishes: I wish there were more games that could be played while traveling, like while sitting in a car. And I wish there were games that could be more easily played over Skype.
"Castle" had a fairly unusual origin. Last Tuesday morning I awoke from a dream. Here's that dream:
I was playing a card game like none I had never seen before. There were two people across the table teaching it to me. One was directly across from me and the other was to that person's right. I'm not sure who either of them were. On the table between us were 3 cards flipped face up and one pile facing down. There was an array of cards in front of me and in front of the person across the table. These were cards we had played earlier and were the whole point of the game.
It was my turn. I decided to pick up one of the face-up cards, an ace of clubs. My intent was to play it with a 2 and 3 (both red) that I had in my hand already. When I tried though, my opponent said that wasn't allowed. I began to understand why and tried to lay the ace with just my 2. Once again, my opponent told me that wasn't allowed. The person told me I could only lay the ace with another ace and pointed out something they had laid in front of them earlier. I was frustrated. We all agreed that drawing the ace of clubs was a pretty dumb choice.
So that was my dream. From it, I decided to create rules and make a game. "Castle" fell together quite quickly! I was hooked before I went to bed that night. I tweaked a few things over the next several days, but mostly it seemed to work well from the start. I simply pulled in aspects that I enjoy in games.
Here's what I like about it:
1. There's plenty of strategy and many tactics to mess around with. Every turn the player is faced with a lot of choices. There's a good bit of luck, but having 3 face-up cards helps bring more strategy to the drawing phase.
2. It requires a series of developments before you get to a successful result. The face value of the card matters, but cards can be given greater meaning. It becomes almost relational. (I especially appreciate my peasants!)
3. It's a 2 player game and quite frankly there aren't enough good 2 player games. Plus you don't need anything more than 2 decks of cards. I wish it could be played without needing so much space, but that couldn't be avoided.
If anyone else feels the need to create a game, here are two wishes: I wish there were more games that could be played while traveling, like while sitting in a car. And I wish there were games that could be more easily played over Skype.
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