Monday, December 11, 2006

Reflections on the American Dream

"You can't really be very well 'adjusted' to your world if it says you 'have a devil' and ends by nailing you up naked to a stake of wood."
-C. S. Lewis

I feel that much of America lives in the sterile environment of the well adjusted. We spend our lives balancing our work and entertainment. Back and forth we travel without ever realizing that we live among peasants. Those of us who are upright and successful citizens are so oblivious to the plight of many around us.

Oh, we struggle. We struggle with our busy schedules. We struggle to insure we can pay the bills of our narcissistic endeavors. We struggle to decide whether we should by a new house, remodel the kitchen, or just buy a new Escalade with our year-end bonus.

What does it mean to wake up and get in touch with the reality of the world around us? How do we get involved with the messy existences of those who really need our human touch? How can we step away from the mold, out of our well adjusted well ordered lethargy?

How can we become unbalanced and maladjusted enough to care?

The Jesus People

On Sunday Hadassah and I went with some friends to visit and organization in the city (click here). As far as I can tell, this is an organization that runs like a commune. Everything is held in common. They own businesses to support themselves.

This idea of enacting the Acts model of community is not new. Many Christian churches claim that they are implementing the Acts model. From time to time a group will decide that Acts points to a commune model. Sometimes communes work, sometimes they don't. I really respect the community that I we observed on Sunday. It has raised some questions for me to think about:

1) Is the 'commune' model a viable option in the world today?
2) Can a commune maintain true Christian community for an extended period of time?
3) Are communes subject to the same human foibles that plague human society?
4) Are communes really the best model of the early church?
5) Do communes tend to become isolationist (think Hudderites)?
6) Is it right to look for "the model" of Christianity or do we need to allow for many models of Christianity?
7) When is an Adventist going to start an inner city community/commune?

Some of these questions are no-brainers.
Hopfully I haven't misrepresented the community that provoked these questions. I really don't know much about them. But the questions are still intresting.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'

I just read an article on the BBC website that describes the vast inequalities in the world. It is easy for me to sit here with a second-hand computer, two old cars, and a two bedroom townhouse and not feel rich. The very fact that I know that I'm having haystacks for dinner makes me rich!

"...half of the world's population own barely 1% of global wealth."

God bless Bono and the One campaign. Yet even his ambitions sound pathetic, right? Lets give just one percent away so that half of the world's population can own barely 2% of global wealth!

And now we're about to spend billions of dollars to have a base on the moon (click here).

Is My Dog Dead?

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting my my fire reading The Missional Leader when I noticed PJ, my Chihuahua behaving strangely. At first I thought he was behaving lewdly, but then I realized something was wrong. His legs were stiff, his back was arched, and his breathing was tense--like he was hyperventilating.

I was on the phone with Adam (my brother-in-law) when this all happened. Adam didn't know what to do on the other end of the line. After about 2 minutes (at least it felt that long), PJ relax and just sat dazed on the couch. He seems fine today... maybe a little more tired that usual. I'll watch him closely today. I know that if I take him to the vet, they'll tell me to watch him and bring him back if it happens again.

We think he either overheated or got a little carbon monoxide poisoning. I've placed a carbon monoxide detector by the fire place so that next time we have the fire lit we'll know if it is poisoning us.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Christmas Shopping

On Friday it started snowing. In fact, it snowed so much, Hadassah got a snow day from work at the preschool.

Friday afternoon, Trevan and I went looking for Christmas lights for my house. I wanted icicles for the roof. Our first stop was Lowe's. Lowe's tuned up nothing, so we went to Home Depot... one box left. Next we tried Target. Nothing. In desperation we went to Meijer where I got what I wanted. But Meijer didn't have the gutter clips. So we tried to remember where we saw them... headed back to Home Depot... nope. Then back to Lowe's, where I got the clips I wanted.

I am happy to report that after that exasperating adventure, my house is now decorated as high as I can reach with my little ladder (and I managed not to slip and fall on the ice, break any lights, or freeze my fingers off). My neighbor, Jerry, is planning to decorate also. With his help and his ladder, I should be able to finish the job.